f,  TOLSTOY' 


TOE 


OF  LIFE 


TEACHING 

m  AND  WISDOM 


L.    N.   TOLSTOY    IN    1908 


RUSSIAN    AUTHORS'    LIBRARY 

LEO  TOLSTOY 
THE 

PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 


TRANSLATED  BY 
ARCHIBALD  J.  WOLFE 


PARvT    1 


NEW  YORK 
INTERNATIONAL  BOOK  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1919 


COPYRIGHT.  1911 


TO 

WOODROW  WILSON-THE  PEACEMAKER 

RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED 

BY  THE 
PUBLISHERS 


2031641 


PUBLISHERS*  PREFACE 

"THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE"  is  Tolstoy's  post- 
humous message  to  an  erring  and  suffering  world. 
Never  since  the  days  when  Christ's  message  from  Heaven 
brought  life  and  comfort  to  a  war-torn,  sinful  and  suffering 
world,  has  mankind  been  so  eager  and  ripe  for  a  gospel 
of  right  living  and  right  thinking  as  it  is  to-day,  emerg- 
ing from  the  titanic  struggle  which  has  so  deeply  stirred 
its  passions  and  emotions. 

Communing  with  the  minds  of  the  great  thinkers  and 
teachers  of  all  ages,  Tolstoy  in  the  course  of  his  epic  career 
gathered  the  pearls  of  wisdom  from  the  spiritual  treas- 
uries of  many  races  and  many  periods  in  the  history  of 
mankind.  These  lofty  thoughts  relating  to  the  spiritual 
aspirations,  the  temporal  requirements  and  the  moral  con- 
duct of  man,  Tolstoy  retold  in  his  own  language,  ar- 
ranging them  under  suitable  captions,  and  interspersing 
them  with  the  expressions  of  his  own  attitude  to  the  prob- 
lems of  life.  The  resulting  monumental  work  is  for  the 
first  time  presented  to  mankind  in  these  two  volumes.  Any 
new  presentation  of  Tolstoy's  work  commands  the  respect- 
ful attention  of  the  world.  But  there  is  healing  of  wounds 
and  divine  inspiration  in  "THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE" 
that  lend  it  the  added  preciousness  of  significant  timeliness. 

Filled  with  the  yearning  to  help  his  fellow-man  strug- 
gling against  sin,  error,  superstition  and  temptation,  the 
sage  labored  on  this  compilation  down  to  his  last  days, 


reverting  to  this  labor  of  love  even  after  the  distressing 
fainting  spells  that  preceded  his  decease,  until,  very  shortly 
before  his  death,  in  "THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE,"  he 
succeeded  in  collating  the  consensus  of  human  wisdom  and 
genius  of  all  lands  and  all  ages  into  a  modern  gospel  that 
bears  the  self-evident  impress  of  divine  truth  and  im- 
mortality. 

The  publishers  reverently  offer  this  work  of  Tolstoy  to 
thinking  humanity. 


TRANSLATOR'S  NOTE 

Not  by  way  of  apology,  but  by  way  of  explanation, 
and  for  the  reader's  better  understanding,  the  translator 
feels  justified  in  forsaking  for  a  moment  the  position  of 
inobtrusive  retirement  which  is  characteristic  of  good 
translating  and  supplementing  the  publisher's  preface  with 
a  note  of  his  own. 

The  collection  of  thoughts  on  the  spiritual  problems 
of  life  offered  in  these  volumes  contains  much  material 
that  was  obviously  not  intended  by  the  author  for  pub- 
lication in  its  present  form.  The  general  arrangement, 
the  sub-headings  and  all  unsigned  paragraphs  and  essays 
are  Tolstoy's  own.  Many  extracts  appear  to  be  credited 
to  philosophers  and  sages  of  various  tongues  and  periods, 
but  in  rendering  these  into  the  Russian  language  Tolstoy 
followed  the  original  somewhat  vaguely,  interpreting  the 
idea  rather-  than  translating  word  for  Wx>rd  so  that  in  re- 
translation  the  wording  frequently  does  not  accurately 
coincide  with  the  original,  and  the  names  following  these 
extracts  may  be  taken  to  indicate  their  source  merely  rather 
than  their  literal  authorship  in  every  instance. 

Here  and  there  the  reader  will  find  cruuities  in  ex- 
pression and  even  in  phrasing.  These  may  be  inten- 
tional, for  Tolstoy  loved  to  use  rough-hewn  speech  in  con- 
veying plain  ideas,  just  as  he  was  plain  in  personal  attire 
and  mode  of  life;  or  the  crudities  may  be  due  to  the 
fragmentary  nature  of  some  of  the  material,  the  editors 


having  included  many  memoranda  and  jottings  that  the 
author  had  no  opportunity  to  go  over  and  revise.  The 
translator  feels  content  to  have  resisted  the  temptation  of 
retouching  with  a  profane  brush  these  slight  imperfections 
that  can  not  mar  the  grandeur  of  a  temple  to  him  who 
views  it  as  a  whole. 

In  conclusion  a  grateful  acknowledgment  is  made  of 
the  helpful  suggestions  offered  by  Dorothy  Brewster,  Ph.  D., 
who  read  the  manuscript  in  the  translation. 

ARCHIBALD  J.  WOLFE. 


AUTHOR'S  FOREWORD 

The  sayings  in  these  volumes  are  of  varied  authorship, 
having  been  gathered  from  Brahminical,  Confucian  and 
Buddhist  sources,  from  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles,  and 
from  the  works  of  numerous,  thinkers  both  ancient  and 
modern.  The  greater  part  of  these  sayings  have  suffered 
aome  alteration  in  form  either  as  translated  or  as  re-stated 
by  me,  and  it  is  therefore  hardly  convenient  to  print  them 
over  the  signatures  of  their  original  authors.  The  best  of 
these  unsigned  sayings  have  their  source  in  the  minds  of 
the  foremost  sages  of  the  world  and  are  not  my  authorship. 

TOLSTOY. 


CONTENTS 

VOL.  I. 

Faith  15 

God  29 

The  Soul  v. 45 

There  is  One  Soul  in  All 63 

Love    77 

Sins,  Errors  and  Superstitions 97 

Surfeit 113 

Sexual  Lusts  127 

Sloth   143 

Covetousness   159 

Anger   173 

Pride   189 

Inequality    199 

Force 213 

Punishment 235 

Vanity   253 

False  Religions 267 

False  Science  .                                                                 .  283 


FAITH 


FAITH 

In  order  to  live  right,  man  must  know  what  he  ought 
to  do,  and  what  he  ought  not  to  do.  In  order  to  know  this, 
he  needs  faith.  Faith  is  the  knowledge  of  what  man  is,  and 
for  what  purpose  he  lives  with  the  world.  And  such  is  the 
faith  which  has  been  and  is  held  by  all  rational  people. 

I. 
What  is  the  True  Faith? 

1.  In  order  to  live  right,  it  is  needful  to  understand 
what  life  is,  as  well  as  what  to  do  and  what  not  to  do  in  this 
life.     These  things  have  been  taught  at  all  times  by  the 
wisest  and  best  living  men  of  all  races.     The  teachings  of 
all  these  wise  men,  in  the  main,  agree  as  one.    This  one  doc- 
trine common  to  all  people  as  to  what  is  the  life  of  man,  and 
how  to  live  it,  is  the  true  faith. 

2.  What   is   this   world  which  has  no  limits   in   any 
direction,  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  which  are  alike  un- 
known to  me,  and  what  is  my  life  in  this  infinite  world,  and 
how  must  I  live  it? 

Faith  alone  can  answer  these  questions. 

3.  True  religion  is  to  know  that  law  which  is  above  all 
human  laws,  and  which  is  the  one  law  for  all  the  people  in 
the  world. 

4.  There  may  be  many  false  faiths,  but  there  is  only 
one  true  faith.  Kant. 

5.  If  you  doubt  your  faith,  it  is  no  longer  faith. 
Faith  is  only  then  a  true  faith,  when  you  do  not  even 

harbor  a  thought  that  what  you  believe  could  be  untrue. 

6.  There  are  two  faiths :  one  being  confidence  in  what 
is  said  by  people — this  is  faith  in  a  man  or  in  people ;  such 
faiths  are  many  and  varied. 


16  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

And  there  is  the  faith  in  my  dependence  on  Him  who 
sent  me  into  this  world.  This  is  faith  in  God,  and  such  faith 
is  one  for  all  people. 

II. 
The  Doctrine  of  True  Faith  is  Always  Clear  and  Simple 

1.  To  have  faith  is  to  trust  in  what  is  being  revealed 
to  us,  without  asking  why  it  is  so,  and  what  will  come  out 
of  it.    Such  is  the  true  faith.    It  shows  us  what  we  are,  and 
what  we  ought  to  do  because  of  it,  but  it  does  not  tell  us 
what  will  be  the  outcome  if  we  do  that  which  our  faith 
commands  us  to  do. 

If  I  have  faith  in  God,  I  need  not  ask  what  will  be  the 
outcome  of  my  obedience  to  God,  because  I  know  that  God 
is  love,  and  nothing  can  come  from  love  but  what  is  good. 

2.  The  true  law  of  life  is  so  simple,  clear  and  intel- 
ligible that  men  cannot  seek  to  excuse  their  evil  life  by 
pleading  ignorance  of  the  law.     If  people  live  contrary  to 
the  law  of  true  life,  there  is  only  one  thing  left  for  them 
to  do:  to  abjure  their  reason.     And  this  is  exactly  what 
they  do. 

3.  Some  say  that  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  of  God  is 
difficult.     This  is  not  true.     The  law  of  life  asks  nothing 
of  us  but  to  love  our  neighbor.    And  to  love  is  not  difficult, 
but  pleasant.  Scovoroda. 

4.  When  a  man  conies  to  know  the  true  faith,  he  is 
like  unto  a  man  lighting  a  lamp  in  a  dark  chamber.     All 
things  become  clear,  and  joy  enters  his  soul. 

III. 

True  Faith  is  to  Love  God  and  Your  Neighbor 
1.    "Love  one  another,  even  as  I  have  loved  you,  thus 
shall  all  men  know  that  you  are  My  disciples,  if  you  have 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  17 

love  one  to  another,"  said  Christ.  He  did  not  say :  "If  you 
believe  this  or  that,"  but  "if  you  have  love."  Faith  with 
different  people,  and  in  different  times,  may  differ,  but  love 
is  one  and  the  same  at  all  times  and  with  all  people. 

2.  The  true  faith  is  one — to  love  all  that  is  living. 

Ibrahim  of  Cordova. 

3.  Love    bestows    blessedness    on    people    because    it 
unites  man  with  God. 

4.  Christ    revealed   to    men   that    the    eternal    is    not 
identical  with  the  future,  but  that  the  eternal,  the  unseen, 
dwells  within  us  right  now,  in  this  life,  and  that  we  attain 
eternal  life  when  we  become  one  with  God,  the  Spirit  in 
whom  all  things  move  and  have  their  being. 

We  can  attain  this  eternal  life  through  love  alone. 

IV. 

Faith  Guides  the  Life  of  Man 

1.  Only  he  truly  knows  the  law  of  life  who  does  that 
which  he  regards  as  the  law  of  life. 

2.  All  faith  is  merely  a  reply  to  this  question :  how 
must  I  live  in  the  world  not  before  men,  but  before  Him 
who  sent  me  into  the  world? 

3.  In  the  true  faith  it  is  not  important  to  be  able  to 
talk  interestingly  about  God,  about  the  soul,  about  the  past 
or  the  future,  but  one  thing  alone  is  essential :  to  know  firm- 
ly what  you  ought  to  do  and  what  you  ought  not  to  do 
in  this  life.  Kant. 

4.  If  a  man  does  not  live  happily,  it  is  only  because 
such  a  man  has  no   faith.     This   may  be  the  case  with 
entire  nations.    If  a  nation  does  not  live  happily,  it  is  only 
because  the  nation  has  lost  its  faith. 


18  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

5.  The  life  of  man  is  good  or  evil  only  as  he  under- 
stands the  true  law  of  life.    The  more  clearly  man  under- 
stands the  true  law  of  life,  the  better  is  his  life;  the  more 
hazy  is  his  understanding  of  that  law,  the  worse  is  his  life. 

6.  In  order  to  escape  from  that  mire  of  sin,  vice  and 
misery  wherein  they  live,  people  have  need  of  one  thing 
alone :  they  need  a  faith  in  which  they  would  live,  not  as 
now — each  for  himself — but  a  common  life,  all  acknowl- 
edging one  law  and  one  purpose.    Only  then  might  people 
repeating  the  words  of  the  Lord's  Prayer :   "Thy  Kingdom 
come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in  Heaven,"  hope 
that  the  Kingdom  of  God  will  indeed  descend  upon  earth. 

Mazsini. 

7.  If  any  faith  teaches  that  we  must  give  up  this  life 
for  life  everlasting,  it  is  a  false  faith.     To  give  up  this 
life  for  life  everlasting  is  impossible,  because  eternal  life 
is  already  in  this  life.  Hindu  Philosophy. 

8.  The  stronger  the  faith  of  man,  the  firmer  his  life. 
The  life  of  man  without  faith  is  the  life  of  a  beast. 

V. 

False  Faith 

1.  The  law  of  life,  namely  to  love  God  and  your  neigh- 
bor, is  simple  and  clear.  Every  man  on  attaining  reason 
recognizes  it  in  his  heart.  Therefore,  if  it  were  not  for 
false  teachings,  all  men  would  adhere  to  this  law,  and  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  would  reign  upon  earth. 

But  false  teachers,  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  taught 
men  to  acknowledge  as  God  that  which  was  not  God,  and  as 
God's  law  that  which  was  not  God's  law.  And  men  believed 
in  these  false  teachings  and  departed  from  the  true  law  of 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  19 

life  and  from  the  fulfilment  of  His  true  law,  and  this  made 
their  life  harder  to  bear  and  more  unhappy. 

Therefore  one  must  not  believe  any  teachings  that  do 
not  agree  with  love  of  God  and  of  your  neighbor. 

2.  It   must  not  be  thought   that   because   a   faith   is 
ancient,  it  is  therefore  true.     On  the  contrary,  the  longer 
people  live,  the  more  clearly  they  grasp  the  true  law  of 
life.    To  think  that  in  our  times  we  must  believe  in  the  same 
things  in  which  our  grandfathers  and  our  great-grandfathers 
had  believed  is  to  think  that  when  you  are  grown  to  man's 
estate,  the  garments  of  your  children  still  might  fit  you. 

3.  We  are  perturbed  because  we  can  no  longer  believe 
in  that  in  which  our  fathers  used  to  believe.     We  must 
not  let  this  perturb  us,  but  try  instead  to  establish  within 
us  such  a  faith  in  which  we  can  believe  as  firmly  as  our 
fathers  believed  in  their  faith.  Martineau. 

4.  In  order  to  know  the  true  faith,  man  must  first 
for  a  season  give  up  that  faith  in  which  he  had  blindly 
believed,  and  then  examine  in  the  light  of  his  reason  all 
that  which  he  had  been  taught  since  childhood. 

5.  A  laborer  who  dwelt  in  the  city  was  proceeding 
homeward  one  day  after  his  work  was  done.     As  he  was 
leaving  his  place  of  employment  he  met  a  stranger,  and 
the  stranger  said:     "Let  us  go  together,   we  are  bound 
for  the   same  place,  and  I   know   the   road   well."     The 
laborer  believed  him,  and  they  departed  together. 

They  had  walked  for  an  hour  or  more,  when  the 
laborer  noticed  that  the  road  was  different  from  the  one 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  into  the  city.  And  he  said: 
"I  think  this  is  not  the  right  road."  And  the  stranger 
replied :  "This  is  the  only  true  and  the  shortest  road.  Be- 
lieve me,  for  I  know  it  well."  The  laborer  believed  him 
and  continued  to  follow  him.  But  the  further  he  went, 


20  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

the  worse  the  road  proved  to  be,  and  the  more  difficult  the 
walking.  And  he  was  compelled  to  spend  all  his  earn- 
ings to  sustain  himself,  and  still  failed  to  reach  home. 
Yet  the  further  he  walked,  the  more  firmly  he  believed 
that  he  was  on  the  right  road,  and  finally  he  was  convinced 
himself  that  it  was  so.  And  the  reason  why  he  became 
so  convinced  was  because  he  did  not  like  to  turn  back,  and 
always  hoped  that  the  road  would  finally  take  him  to  his 
destination.  And  he  strayed  a  long,  long  way  from  home, 
and  was  wretched  for  a  long  time. 

Thus  it  is  with  people  who  do  not  listen  to  the  voice 
of  the  spirit  within  themselves,  but  listen  to  the  voice  of 
strangers  regarding  God  and  His  law. 

6.  It  is  bad  not  to  know  God,  but  it  is  worse  to  ac- 
knowledge as  God  that  which  is  not  God. 

VI. 
External  Worship 

1.  True  faith  is  to  believe  in  that  ^ne  law  which  befits 
all  the  people  in  the  world. 

2.  True  faith  enters  the  heart  in  stillness  and  solitude 
only. 

3.  True  faith  consists  in  living  always  a  good  life, 
loving  all    men,   doing   unto   others    as   you    would   have 
others  do  unto  you. 

This,  indeed,  is  the  true  faith.  And  this  is  the  faith 
that  all  truly  wi.^e  men  and  men  of  saintly  life  have  always 
taught  among  all  nations. 

4.  Jesus  did  not  say  to  the  Samaritans:  Leave  your 
beliefs   for  those  of   the  Jews.     He  did  not  say  to  the 
Jews :  Join  the  Samaritans.     But  he  said  to  the  Jews  and 
to  the  Samaritans :  You  are  alike  in  error.     Not  Garistm, 
nor  yet  Jerusalem  avails  anything.     The  time  will  come, 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  21 

nay,  has  already  come,  when  men  will  worship  the  Fathar 
neither  in  Garisim  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem,  but  true  worship- 
pers will  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  the  truth,  for 
such  are  the  worshippers  whom  the  Father  seeketh. 

Jesus  was  seeking  such  worshippers  in  the  days  of 
Jerusalem.  He  is  seeking  them  still  in  these  days. 

5.  A  master  had  a  laborer.  The  same  lived  in  his 
master's  house  and  saw  the  master  face  to  face  many  times 
each  day.  The  laborer  little  by  little  neglected  his  labors, 
and  finally  grew  so  lazy  that  he  would  do  nothing  at  all. 
The  master  noticed  this  but  said  nothing  and  merely  turned 
his  face  from  him  whenever  he  met  him.  The  laborer 
saw  that  his  master  was  not  satisfied  with  him,  and  planned 
to  regain  his  master's  favor  without  laboring.  He  sought 
out  his  master's  friends  and  acquaintances  and  begged 
them  to  intercede  with  the  master  so  that  he  should  no 
longer  be  angry  with  him.  The  Master  learned  of  this, 
and  calling  the  laborer  said:  "Why  do  you  ask  people  to 
intercede  for  you?  You  have  me  always  with  you  and 
you  can  tell  me  face  to  face  whatever  is  needful."  But 
the  laborer  did  not  know  what  to  say  and  departed.  And 
he  conceived  a  new  plan :  he  gathered  eggs  belonging  to 
his  master,  caught  one  of  his  master's  fowls,  and  took 
them  to  him  as  a  present  to  avert  his  wrath.  And  the 
master  said:  "First  you  ask  my  friends  to  plead  for  you, 
although  you  can  freely  speak  to  me  for  yourself.  Then 
you  mean  to  propitiate  me  with  presents.  But  all  that  you 
have  is  mine  already.  Even  if  you  brought  me  what  is 
truly  yours,  I  require  no  presents."  Thereupon  the  laborer 
adopted  a  new  scheme :  he  composed  verses  in  his  master's 
honor  and  standing  outside  his  master's  window  loudly 
shouted  and  sang  his  verses,  calling  his  master's  great, 
r.mnipresent,  all-powerful  father,  merciful  benefactor. 


22  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Then  the  master  summoned  the  laborer  again  and  said : 
"You  once  attempted  to  please  me  through  others,  then 
brought  me  gifts  of  what  was  my  own,  and  now  you  have 
a  still  more  ridiculous  plan :  you  shout  and  sing  concern- 
ing me,  saying  that  I  am  all-powerful,  merciful,  this  and 
that.  You  sing  and  you  shout  about  me,  but  you  do  not 
know  me,  neither  do  you  seem  to  want  to  know  me.  I 
need  not  the  pleas  of  others  in  your  behalf,  nor  your  gifts, 
nor  your  praises  regarding  things  you  cannot  know ;  all  I 
need  of  you  is  your  labor." 

All  God  requires  of  us  is  good  works. 

Therein  is  the  entire  law  of  God. 

VII. 

The  Idea  of  a  Reward  for  a  Good  Life  is  Foreign  to 
True  Faith 

If  a  man  adheres  to  a  religion  merely  because  he  ex- 
pects all  sorts  of  external  future  rewards  for  the  fulfilment 
of  the  works  of  his  religion,  this  is  not  faith,  but  calcula- 
tion, and  in  all  cases  an  erroneous  calculation.  It  is  an 
erroneous  calculation,  because  true  faith  yields  its  blessings 
only  in  the  present,  but  does  not,  cannot  give  any  external 
blessings  in  the  future. 

A  man  set  forth  to  hire  himself  out  as  a  laborer.  And 
he  met  two  stewards  seeking  to  hire  laborers.  He  told 
them  that  he  was  seeking  work.  And  the  two  began  to  in- 
vite him  each  to  labor  for  his  master.  One  said :  "Come 
to  my  master,  for  his  is  a  good  place.  Of  course,  if  you 
do  not  please  him,  he  will  thrash  you  and  place  you  in 
prison ;  but  if  you  do  please  him,  you  cannot  have  a  better 
life.  When  your  labor  is  ended,  you  will  live  without 
toiling,  enjoying  an  endless  feast  with  wine,  fine  meats 
and  entertainments.  Only  try  to  please  the  master,  and 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  23 

your  life  will  be  too  wonderful  for  description."  Thus 
pleaded  one  of  the  stewards. 

The  other  steward  also  invited  him  to  work  for  his 
master,  but  did  not  tell  him  how  his  master  would  reward 
him;  he  did  not  even  mention  where  and  how  the  laborer 
would  live,  whether  the  task  was  hard  or  light,  but  only 
stated  that  his  master  was  good,  inflicting  no  punishments, 
and  that  he  lived  together  with  his  own  hired  laborers. 

And  the  man  thought  thus  of  the  first  master:  "He 
promises  a  little  too  much.  In  fairness  there  is  no  need 
to  promise  so  much.  Tempted  by  the  promise  of  a  life 
of  pleasure,  I  might  find  myself  very  poorly  off.  And  the 
master,  doubtless,  is  very  stern,  for  he  punishes  severely 
those  who  fail  to  do  as  he  says.  I  think  I  will  rather  go 
to  the  second  master,  for  although  he  promises  nothing, 
they  say  he  is  kind  and  lives  in  common  with  his  laborers." 

The  same  is  true  of  religious  teachings.  Some  teach- 
ers beguile  men  into  good  living  by  terrifying  them  with 
threats  of  punishment  and  deceiving  them  with  promises 
of  rewards  in  another  world  which  no  one  has  ever  seen. 
Other  teachers  teach  that  love,  the  principle  of  life,  dwells 
in  the  souls  of  men,  and  he  who  unites  with  it  is  happy. 

3.  If  you  serve  God  for  the  sake  of  bliss  everlasting, 
you  do  not  serve  God,  but  serve  your  own  ends. 

4.  The    principal    difference   between   true   and    false 
faith  is  this:  In  false  faith  man  desires  God  to  reward  him 
for  his  sacrifices  and  prayers.     In  the  true  faith  man  seeks 
one  thing  alone :  To  learn  how  to  please  God. 

VIII. 

Reason  Verifies  the  Principles  of  Faith 
1.    In  order  to  know  the  true  faith,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  suppress  the  voice  of  reason,  but  on  the  contrary,  reason 


24  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

must  be  purified  and  exerted  in  order  that  we  may  examine 
by  it  that  which  is  taught  by  teachers  of  religion. 

2.  It  is  not  by  reason  that  we  attain  faith.    But  reason 
is  necessary  to  examine  the  faith  that  is  taught  us. 

3.  Do  not  fear  to  eliminate  from  your  faith  all  that 
is  superfluous,  carnal,  visible,  amenable  to  senses,  as  well 
as  all  that  is  confused  and  lacking  in  clearness;  the  better 
you  purify  the  spiritual  kernel,  the  more  clearly  will  you 
grasp  the  true  law  of  life. 

4.  Not  he  is  an  unbeliever  who  does  not  believe  all 
that  the  people  around  him  believe,  but  he  is  truly  an  un- 
believer who  thinks  and  affirms  that  he  believes  something 
which  in  reality  he  does  not  believe. 

IX. 

The  Religious  Consciousness  of  People  Strives 
Constantly  After  Perfection 

1.  We  must  benefit  by  the  teachings  of  the  wise  and 
holy  men  of  old  regarding  the  law  of  life,  but  we  must 
examine  them  by  our  own  reason,  accepting  all  that  is  in 
accord  with  reason,  rejecting  all  that  is  in  conflict  therewith. 

2.  If,  in  order  not  to  stray  from  the  law  of  God,  man 
hesitates  to  leave  the  faith  once  adopted  by  him,  he  is  like 
unto  a  man  who  bound  himself  with  a  rope  to  a  post  so  that 
he  should  not  lose  his  way.  Lucy  Mallory. 

3.  It  is  strange  that  the  majority  of  people  believe 
most  firmly  in  the  most  ancient  religious  teachings,  which 
no   longer  are   suitable   to   our  time,   but    reject   all   new 
teachings  as  superfluous  and  harmful.     Such  men  forget 
that  if  God  revealed  the  truth  to  the  ancients,  He  still  re- 
mains the  same  and  can  also  reveal  it  to  men  who  lived 
in  latter  times  and  to  those  who  live  to-day. 

Thoreau. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  25 

4.  The  law  of  life  cannot  change,  but  people  can  grasp 
it  more  and  more  clearly,  and  learn  how  to  fulfill  it  in  life. 

5.  Religion  is  not  true  for  the  reason  that  holy  men 
have  preached  it,  but  holy  men  have  preached  it  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  true.  Lessing. 

6.  When    rain-water   flows    from   the    roof-gutter,   it 
seems  to  us  as  though  it  came  from  it.     But  rain,  indeea, 
falleth  from  above.     Even  so  with  the  teachings  of  wise 
men  and  holy:     We  think  that  the  teachings  come  from 
them,  but  they  proceed   from   God. 

From  Rama-Krishna. 


GOD 


GOD 

Besides  all  that  is  corporeal  within  us,  and  in  the  en- 
tire universe,  we  know  something  incorporeal  which  gives 
life  to  our  body  and  is  connected  with  it.  This  incorporeal 
something,  connected  with  our  body,  we  call  our  soul.  The 
same  incorporeal  something,  but  not  connected  with  any- 
thing, and  giving  life  to  everything  that  lives,  we  call  God. 

I. 
God  is  Known  of  Man  From  Within 

1.  The  foundation  of  all  faith  is  in  the  fact  that  in 
addition  to  what  we  see  and  feel  in  our  bodies  and  in  the 
bodies  of  other  creatures,  there  is  something  else  that  is 
invisible,  incorporeal,  yet  giving  life  to  us  and  to  every- 
thing that  is  visible  and  corporeal. 

2.  I  know  that  there  is  something  within  me  without 
which  there  would  be  nothing.    This  is  what  I  call  God. 

Angelus. 

3.  Every  man  meditating  on  what  he  is  can  not  help 
seeing  that  he  is  not  all,  but  a  specific  separate  part  of 
something.     And  having  grasped   it,   man   usually  thinks 
that  this  something  from  which  he  is  separated  is  that  ma- 
terial world,  which  he  sees,  that  earth  whereon  he  lives  and 
whereon  his  ancestors   lived  before  him,  that  sky,   those 
stars  and  that  sun  which  he  sees. 

But  if  a  man  gives  this  subject  a  little  more  thought 
or  discovers  that  the  wise  men  of  this  world  have  thought 
about  it,  he  must  realize  that  the  SOMETHING  from 
which  men  feel  themselves  separated  is  not  the  material 
world  which  extends  in  every  direction  in  space,  and  also 
without  end  in  time,  but  is  something  else.  If  a  man  medi- 
tates more  deeply  on  this  subject,  and  learns  what  the  wise 


30  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

men  have  always  believed  regarding  it,  he  must  realize 
that  the  material  world  which  had  no  beginning  and  will 
have  no  end  and  which  neither  has  nor  can  have  any  limits 
in  space,  is  not  anything  real,  but  is  only  a  dream  of  ours, 
and  therefore  that  SOMETHING  from  which  we  feel  our- 
selves separated,  is  something  that  has  neither  beginning 
nor  end  in  time  or  in  space,  but  is  something  immaterial, 
something  spiritual. 

This  spiritual  something  which  man  acknowledges  as 
his  beginning,  is  the  very  thing  which  all  the  wise  men  have 
always  called  and  still  are  calling  God. 

4.  To  know  God  is  possible  only  within  oneself.    Until 
you  find  God  within  yourself,  you  will  nowhere  find  him. 

There  is  no  God  for  him  who  cannot  find  Him  within 
himself. 

5.  I  know  within  me  a  spiritual  being  which  is  apart 
from  everything  else.     I  equally  know  the  same  spiritual 
being,  apart  from  everything  else,  in  other  people.     But  if 
I  know  this  spiritual  being  within  myself  and  in  others,  it 
can  not  but  exist  within  itself.    This  spiritual  being  within 
itself  we  call  God. 

6.  It  is  not  you  who  Hive;  what  you  call  yourself,  is 
dead.    That  which  animates  you  is  God.  Angelus. 

7.  Do  not  think  that  you  can  earn  merit  with  God  by 
works;  all  works  are  as  nothing  before  God.     It  is  needful 
not  to  earn  merit  before  God,  but  to  be  God.          Angelus. 

8.  If  we  did  not  see  with  our  eyes,  hear  with  our  ears 
and  touch  with  our  fingers,  we  could  know  nothing  of  what 
is  around  us.     And  if  we  did  not  know  God  within  our- 
selves, we  should  not  know  ourselves,  we  should  not  know 
that  within  ourselves  which  sees,  hears  and  touches  the 
world  around  us. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  31 

9.  He  who  does  not  know  how  to  become  a  son  of 
God,  will  for  ever  remain  on  the  plane  of  the  animal. 

Angelus. 

10.  If  I  live  a  wordly  life,  I  can  do  without  God.    But 
if  I  only  give  thought  to  what  I  am,  where  I  came  from, 
when  I  was  born,  where  I  will  go  when  I  die,  I  must  admit 
that  there  is  something  from  which  I  sprang  and  to  which 
I  am  going.     I  can  not  deny  that  I  came  into  this  world 
from  something  that  is  incomprehensible  to  me,  and  that  I 
am  going  to  something  equally  incomprehensible  to  me. 

This  incomprehensible  something  from  which  I  ccme 
and  to  which  I  am  going,  I  call  God. 

11.  They  say  that  God  is  Love,  or  that  Love  is  God. 
They  say  also  that  God  is  Reason,  or  that  Reason  is  God. 
Neither  is  strictly  true.     Love  and  Reason  are  those  char- 
acteristics of  God  which  we  recognize  within  ourselves,  but 
what  He  is  within  Himself  we  can  not  know. 

12.  It  is  well  to  fear  God,  but  it  is  better  to  love  Him. 
But  best  of  all  it  is  to  resurrect  Him  within.  Angelus. 

13.  Man  must  love,  but  one  can  truly  love  only  that 
in  which  there  is  no  evil.    And  there  is  only  one  Being  in 
whom  there  is  no  evil :  namely  God. 

14.  If  God  did  not  love  Himself  in  you,  you  could 
never  love  yourself,  God  or  your  neighbor.  Angelus. 

15.  Though  men  differ  as  to  what  is  God,  none  the 
less  all  who  believe  in  God,  always  agree  as  to  what  God 
wants  of  them. 

16.  God  loves  solitude.    He  will  enter  your  heart  when 
He  may  be  there  alone,  when  you  think  of  Him,  and  of 
™'m  only.  Angelus. 


32  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

17.  The  Arabs  have  a  tale  about  Moses.    Wandering 
in  the  desert  Moses  heard  a  shepherd  praying  to  God.    And 
this  is  how  the  shepherd  prayed :    "God,  oh,  that  I  could 
meet  Thee  face  to  face  and  become  Thy  servant!     With 
what  joy  would  I  wash  Thy  feet,  kiss  them,  put  sandals 
upon  them,  comb  Thy  hair,  wash  Thy  raiment,  care  for 
Thy  dwelling,  bring  Thee  of  the  milk  of  my  herd.     My 
heart  is  longing  for  Thee."    And  Moses  hearing  these  words 
of  the  shepberd  was  angry  and  said:    "Thou  blasphemer! 
God  has  no  body.    He  needs  no  raiment,  nor  dwelling,  nor 
the  care  of  servants.    Thy  words  are  evil."    And  the  shep- 
herd was  saddened.     He  could  not  imagine  God  without 
body  and  without  bodily  needs,  and  being  unable  to  pray 
to  God  and  to  serve  Him  as  he  ought,  he  fell  into  despair. 
Then  God  said  unto  Moses:   "Why  didst  Thou  turn  away 
from  Me  my  faithful  servant?     Each  man   has  his  own 
thoughts  and  his  own  words.     What  is  good  for  one,  is 
evil  for  another.     What  is  poison  to  thee,  may  be  even  as 
sweet  honey  to  another.     Words  mean  nothing.     I  see  the 
heart  of  him  who  turns  to  Me." 

18.  Men  speak  of  God  in  various  ways,  but  feel  and 
understand  Him  in  the  same  way. 

19.  Man  can  not  help  believing  in  God  any  more  than 
he  can  help  walking  on  two  feet.    This  belief  may  assume 
different  forms,  it  may  be  suppressed  altogether,  but  with- 
out his  belief  he  can  not  understand  himself. 

Lichtenberg. 

20.  Though  man  may  not  know  that  he  is  breathing 
air,  he  knows  when  he  is  suffocating  that  he  lacks  some- 
thing without  which  he  can  not  live.    The  same  is  true  of 
the  man  who  has  lost  God,  although  he  may  not  know  from 
what  he  is  suffering. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  33 

II. 

A  Rational  Man  is  Bound  to  Acknowledge  God 

1.  Some  say  of  God  that  He  dwells  in  heaven.     It  is 
also  said  that  He  dwells  in  man.    Both  statements  are  true : 
He  is  in  heaven,  that  is,  in  the  limitless  universe,  and  He 
is  also  in  the  soul  of  man. 

2.  Sensing  the  existence  within  his  own   individual 
body  of  a  spiritual  and  indivisible  being — namely  God,  and 
seeing  the  same  God  in  everything  that  is  living,  man  asks 
himself:  why  has  God,  a  spiritual  being  one  and  indivisible, 
confined   Himself   within   individual   bodies    of   creatures, 
mine  and  others?    Why  has  a   spiritual  being,   a  Unity, 
divided  itself,  as  it  were,  within  itself?  Why  has  the  spir- 
itual and  indivisible  become  separate  and  corporeal?    Why 
has  the  immortal  allied  itself  with  the  mortal? 

And  only  that  man  can  answer  these  questions  who  ful- 
fills the  will  of  Him  who  has  sent  him  into  this  world. 

"All  this  is  done  for  the  sake  of  my  blessedness,"  such 
a  man  can  say,  "I  thank  Him  and  ask  no  more  questions." 

3.  That  which  we  call  God  we  see  both  in  the  heavens 
and  in  every  man. 

On  a  wintry  night,  if  you  gaze  upon  the  sky  and  see 
stars  upon  stars,  and  without  end,  and  consider  that  many 
of  these  stars  are  very  much  larger  than  this  earth  of  ours 
whereon  we  live,  and  that  behind  the  stars  which  we  see 
there  are  hundreds,  thousands,  millions  of  stars  as  large 
and  larger  even,  and  that  there  is  no  end  to  the  stars  and 
the  heavens,  you  must  realize  that  there  is  something  which 
you  can  not  grasp. 

But  if  we  look  within  our  own  self,  and  sense  there 
that  which  we  call  our  soul,  when  we  see  within  our  own 
self  something  that  we  likewise  fail  to  grasp,  but  something 
which  we  know  more  assuredly  than  anything  else,  and 


34  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

through  which  we  know  all  that  is,  then  we  see  even  in  our 
own  soul  something  still  more  incomprehensible,  something 
still  greater  than  that  which  we  see  in  the  heavens. 

That  which  we  see  in  the  heavens  and  sense  within 
our  own  soul  is  the  very  thing  we  call  God. 

4.  At  all  times  and  among  all  peoples  there  has  been 
a  belief  in  some  invisible  power  sustaining  the  world. 

The  ancients  called  it  universal  reason,  nature,  life, 
eternity;  Christians  call  it  Spirit,  Father,  Lord,  Reason, 
Truth. 

The  visible,  changeable  world  is  like  a  shadow  of  this 
power. 

As  God  is  eternal,  so  is  the  visible  world,  His  shadow, 
eternal. 

But  the  visible  world  is  merely  the  shadow.  Only  the 
invisible  power — God — truly  exists.  Scovoroda. 

5.  There  is  a  being  without  whom  neither  heaven,  nor 
earth  could  exist.    This  being  is  serene  and  incorporeal,  his 
characteristics  we  call  love  and  reason,  but  the  being  itself 
has  no  name.    It  is  infinitely  remote  and  infinitely  near. 

Lao-Tse. 

6.  A  man  was  asked  how  he  knew  that  there  is  a  God. 
He  answered :  "Does  one  need  a  candle  to  see  the  sunrise  ?" 

7.  If  a  man  counts  himself  great,  it  is  a  proof  that  he 
does  not  look  upon  things  from  the  height  of  God. 

Angelus. 

8.  One  may  give  no  thought  to  the  world  which  is  in- 
finite in  all  directions,  or  to  the  soul  that  is  conscious  of 
itself ;  but  if  one  only  gives  a  little  thought  to  these  matters, 
one  can  not  help  acknowledging  that  which  we  call  God. 

9.  There  is  a  girl  in  America,  born  deaf,  dumb  and 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  35 

blind.  She  was  taught  to  read  and  write  by  the  sense  of 
touch.  Her  teacher  was  telling  her  about  God,  and  the 
child  remarked  that  she  had  always  known  about  it,  but 
did  not  know  how  to  call  it. 

III. 

The  Will  of  God 

1.  We  know  God  less  by  our  reason  than  by  a  feeling 
akin  to  that  of  an  infant  in  his' mother's  arms. 

The  infant  does  not  know  who  is  holding  him,  keeping 
him  warm,  feeding  him,  but  knows  that  someone  is  doing 
it,  and  moreover  he  not  only  knows  that  one,  in  whose 
power  he  is,  but  loves  her.  Even  so  it  is  with  man. 

2.  The  more  a  man  fulfills  the  will  of  God,  the  better 
he  knows  Him. 

If  a  man  fails  altogether  to  fulfill  the  will  of  God,  he 
does  not  know  Him  at  all,  though  he  might  affirm  that  he 
knew  Him  or  pray  to  Him. 

3.  Even  as  you  must  come  closer  to  a  thing  in  order 
to  know  it,  so  you  may  know  God  only  if  you  draw  nigh 
unto  Him.    And  to  draw  nigh  unto  God  it  is  possible  only 
by  good  works.     And  the  more  a  man  accustoms  himself 
to  live  a  good  life,  the  more  closely  he  will  know  God.    And 
the  better  he  knows  God,  the  better  he  will  love  his  fellow- 
men.    One  thing  leads  to  the  other. 

4.  We  can  not  know  God.     Only  this  we  can  know 
about  Him:   His  law  and  His  will,  as  related  to  us  in  the 
New  Testament.     Knowing  His  law,  we  draw  the  conclu- 
sion that  He  exists,  who  has  given  the  law,  but  we  can  not 
know  the  lawgiver  Himself.    We  only  truly  know  that  we 
must  fulfill  the  Godgiven  law  in  our  own  life,  and  that  our 
life  becomes  better  to  the  extent  that  we  fulfill  His  law. 

5.  Man  can  not  help  feeling  that  something  is  being 


36  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

done  with  his  life,  that  he  is  someone's  instrument.  And 
if  he  is  someone's  instrument,  there  is  someone  who  is  work- 
ing with  this  instrument.  And  this  someone  is  God. 

6.  It  is  astonishing  how  I  formerly  failed  to  recognize 
this  simple  truth  that  back  of  this  world  and  the  life  we 
are  living  in  it  there  is  Something,  there  is  Someone  who 
knows  why  this  world  exists,  and  why  we  are  in  it  like 
bubbles  rising  to  the  surface  in  boiling  water,  bursting  and 
disappearing. 

Yes,  something  is  being  done  in  this  world,  something 
is  being  done  with  all  these  living  creatures,  something  is 
being  done  with  me,  with  my  life.  Otherwise,  why  this 
sun,  these  springs,  these  winters?  Why  these  sufferings, 
births,  deaths,  benefactions,  crimes,  why  all  these  individual 
creatures  who  apparently  have  no  meaning  for  me,  and  yet 
live  their  lives  to  the  utmost,  guarding  their  lives  so  strenu- 
ously, creatures  in  whose  hearts  tfre  passion  to  live  is  so 
strongly  intrenched?  The  lives  of  these  creatures  convince 
me  more  than  anything  else  that  all  these  things  are  neces- 
sary for  some  purpose,  and  that  this  purpose  is  rational 
and  good,  but  is  incomprehensible  to  me. 

7.  My  spiritual  "I"  is  no  kinsman  to  my  body,  there- 
fore it  is  in  my  body  not  of  its  own  volition,  but  in  ac- 
cordance with  some  higher  will. 

This  higher  will  is  what  we  understand  as  God  and 
call  God. 

8.  God  is  neither  to  be  worshipped,  nor  praised.    One 
can  only  be  silent  about  Him  and  serve  Him.        Angelus. 

9.  As  long  as  a  man  sings  and  shouts  and  repeats  in 
the  presence  of  others:    "Lord,  Lord,"  know  that  he  has 
not  found  God.    He  who  has  found  Him  maintains  silence. 

Rama-Krishna. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  37 

10.  In  evil  movements  one  does  not  feel  God,  one 
doubts  Him.  And  salvation  is  always  in  one  thing  alone — 
and  it  is  sure:  cease  to  think  about  God,  but  think  of  His 
law  only  and  fulfill  it,  love  all  men,  and  doubts  will  vanish, 
and  you  will  find  God  again. 

IV. 

God  Can  Not  Be  Known  By  Reason 

1.  It  is  possible,  and  it  is  easy  to  feel  God  in  oneself. 
But  to  know  God  as  He  is,  is  impossible  and  unnecessary. 

2.  It  is  impossible  to  recognize  by  reason  that  there  is 
a  God  and  that  there  is  a  soul  in  man.    It  is  equally  impos- 
sible to  know  by  reason  that  there  is  no  God  or  that  there 
is  no  soul.  Pascal. 

3.  Why  am  I  separated  from  all  else,  and  why  do  I 
know  that  all  that  exists  from  which  I  am  separated,  and 
why  can  I  not  understand  what  this  All  is?    Why  is  my  "I" 
forever  undergoing  a  change?     I  cannot  understand  it  at 
all.     But  I  can  not  help  thinking  that  there  is  a  meaning  in 
it  all,  I  can  not  help  thinking  that  there  is  a  being  to  whom 
all  this  is  clear,  who  knows  why  it  is  all  so. 

4.  Every  man  may  feel  God,  but  no  one  may  know 
Him.     For  this  reason  do  not  strive  to  comprehend  Him, 
but  strive  to  do  His  will,  strive  to  sense  Him  more  and  more 
vividly  within  yourself. 

5.  The  God  whom  we  have  comprehended  is  no  longer 
God.    The  comprehended  God  becomes  as  finite  as  our  own 
self.    God  can  not  be  comprehended.    He  is  incomprehens- 
ible-  Vivekananda. 

6.    If  the  sun  blinds  your  eyes,  you  can  not  say  there 
is  no  sun.     Neither  can  you  say  there  is  no  God,  because 


38  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

your  reason  is  lost  and  confused  when  you  endeavor  to 
comprehend  the  beginning  and  the  cause  of  everything. 

Angelus. 

7.  "Why  dost  thou  ask  My  name  ?"  says  God  to  Moses. 
"If  thou  canst  see  back  of  all  that  moves  what  has  ever 
been,  is  and  will  be,  thou  wilt  know  Me.     My  name  is  the 
same  as  My  being.     I  am  who  I  am.     I  am  that  what  is. 
He  who  would  know  My  name,  does  not  know  Me." 

Scovoroda. 

8.  Reason  that  may  be  fathomed,  is  not  the  eternal 
reason;  the  being  that  may  be  named,  is  not  the  supreme 
being.  Lao-Tse. 

9.  To  me  God  is  that  towards  which  I  am  striving,  in 
striving  towards  which  consists  my  life ;  and  who  exists  for 
me  for  the  very  reason,  and  imperatively  so,  that  I  may 
not  comprehend  Him  or  name  Him.    If  I  could  comprehend 
Him,  I  could  attain  to  Him,  and  there  would  be  nothing 
towards  which  I  could  strive,  and  there  would  be  no  life. 
But  I  can  not  comprehend  Him,  I  can  not  name  Him,  but 
withal  I  know  Him,  I  know  the  way  to  Him,  and  of  all 
things  which  I  know  this  knowledge  is  even  the  most  certain. 

It  is  strange  that  I  do  not  comprehend  Him,  and  withal 
I  am  always  in  fear  when  I  am  without  Him,  and  only  then 
am  I  free  from  fear  when  I  am  with  Him.  It  is  still  more 
strange  that  it  is  needless  to  know  Him  better  or  more 
closely  than  I  know  Him  in  this  present  life.  I  may  draw 
near  to  Him,  and  I  long  to  do  so,  and  therein  is  my  life, 
but  approaching  Him  does  not,  can  not  increase  my  com- 
prehension. Every  attempt  of  my  imagination  to  compre- 
hend (for  instance  as  the  Creator,  as  the  Merciful  One,  or 
something  of  that  order)  only  puts  me  further  away  from 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  39 

Him  and  arrests  my  approach  to  Him.    Even  the  pronoun 
"He"  somehow  belittles  Him. 

10.  Anything  that  may  be  said  of  God  is  unlike  Him. 
God  can  not  be  expressed  in  words.  Angelus. 

V. 

Unbelief  in  God 

1.  The  rational  man  finds  within  himself  the  idea  of 
his  soul  and  of  the  universal  soul — God,  and  realizing  his 
inability  to  reduce  these  ideas  to  absolute  clearness,  humbly 
stops  before  them  and  does  not  touch  the  veil. 

But  there  have  always  been,  and  there  still  are  men  of 
mental  refinement  and  erudition  who  seek  to  elucidate  the 
idea  of  God  in  words.  I  do  not  judge  these  men.  Only 
they  are  wrong  when  they  say  that  there  is  no  God. 

I  admit  that  it  may  happen  that  men  and  the  cunning 
exploits  of  men  may  for  a  time  convince  some  that  there 
is  no  God,  but  such  godlessness  can  not  last.  In  one  way 
or  another  man  will  always  need  God.  If  Deity  manifested 
itself  still  more  clearly  than  now,  I  am  convinced  that  men 
contrary  to  God  would  invent  new  refinements  to  deny  Him. 
Reason  always  bows  to  that  which  the  heart  demands. 

Rousseau. 

2.  According  to  the  teachings  of  Lao-Tse,  to  think  that 
there  is  no  God  is  like  believing  that  when  one  blows  with 
the  bellows  the  current  proceeds  from  the  bellows  and  not 
from  the  air  around,  and  that  the  bellows  would  blow  even 
if  there  were  no  air. 

3.  When  men  who  lead  a  wicked  life  say  that  there  is 
no  God,  they  are  right:    God  is  only  for  those  who  look 
in  His  direction,  and  draw  nigh  to  Him.     For  those  who 


40  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

have  turned  away  from  Him  and  are  walking  away  from 
Him,  there  is  no  God,  there  can  be  no  God. 

4.  Two  kinds  of  men  may  know  God :  men  of  a  humble 
heart,  whether  they  are  clever  or  ignorant,  and  truly  wise 
men.    Only  proud  men,  and  men  of  average  intelligence  do 
not  know  God.  Pascal. 

5.  It  is  possible  not  to  mention  the  name  of  God,  not 
to  use  that  expression,  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  acknowl- 
edge Him.     If  there  be  no  God,  nothing  can  be. 

6.  There  is  no  God  only  for  Him  who  does  not  seek 
Him.    Seek  Him,  and  He  will  reveal  Himself  to  you. 

7.  Moses  cries  out  to  God :   "Where  will  I  find  Thee, 
O  Lord?"     God  answers:    "Thou  hast  already  found  Me, 
if  Thou  seekest  Me." 

8.  If  the  thought  enters  your  head  that  whatever  you 
have  believed  about  God  is  untrue,  that  there  is  no  God,  be 
not  disturbed,  for  you  may  know  that  this  is  apt  to  happen 
to  everybody.    Only  do  not  imagine  that  because  you  have 
ceased  to  believe  in  God  in  whom  you  once  believed,  it  is 
because  there  is  no  God.    If  you  do  not  believe  in  the  God 
in  whom  you  once  believed,  it  is  because  there  was  some- 
thing erroneous  in  your  belief. 

If  the  savage  ceases  to  believe  in  his  god  of  wood,  it 
does  not  mean  that  there  is  no  God,  but  merely  that  God 
is  not  made  of  wood.  We  cannot  comprehend  God,  but  we 
can  be  more  and  more  conscious  of  Him.  So  that  if  we 
discard  a  crude  notion  of  God,  it  is  really  better  for  us.  It 
helps  us  to  have  a  better  and  a  higher  consciousness  of  God. 

9.  To  prove  that  there  is  a  God!     Can  there  be  any- 
thing more  absurd  than  the  idea  of  proving  the  existence  of 
God?    To  prove  the  existence  of  God  is  like  proving  that 
you  are  living.     Prove  it  to  whom?     By  what  argument? 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  41 

For  what  purpose?     If  there  is  no  God,  there  is  nothing. 
How  can  we  prove  God? 

10.  God  is.  We  do  not  have  to  prove  it.  Proving  that 
there  is  a  God  is  a  blasphemy;  denying  His  existence  is 
madness.  God  lives  in  our  conscience,  in  the  consciousness 
of  humanity,  in  the  surrounding  universe.  To  deny  God 
beneath  the  dome  of  the  starry  firmament,  over  the  graves 
of  our  loved  ones,  before  the  glorious  death  of  a  martyr 
put  to  death — only  a  very  pitiable,  or  a  very  depraved  man 
is  capable  of  doing  so.  Mazzini. 

VI. 

Loving  God 

"I  do  not  understand  what  it  means  to  love  God.  Is  it 
possible  to  love  something  incomprehensible  and  unknown? 
To  love  your  neighbor,  that  is  intelligible  and  good,  but  to 
love  God  is  a  mere  phrase."  Many  people  speak  and  think 
in  this  manner.  But  people  who  speak  and  think  thus,  are 
gravely  in  error.  They  do  not  understand  what  it  means 
to  love  their  neighbor,  not  someone  agreeable  or  useful  to 
them,  but  all  men  equally,  though  they  be  the  most  dis- 
agreeable and  hostile  men.  Only  he  can  love  his  neighbor 
in  this  manner  who  loves  God,  that  God  who  is  the  same  in 
all  men.  Thus  not  the  love  of  God  is  unintelligible,  but  the 
love  of  fellow-man  without  the  love  of  God. 


THE  SOUL 


THE   SOUL 

The  intangible,  invisible,  incorporeal  something,  which 
gives  life  to  all  that  is  living,  which  is  per  se,  we  call  God. 
The  same  intangible,  invisible,  incorporeal  principle,  which 
is  separated  by  the  body  from  all  else,  and  of  which  we  are 
conscious  as  self,  we  call  the  soul. 

I. 

What  is  the  Soul? 

1.  A  man  who  has  attained  old  age  has  passed  through 
many  vicissitudes :  he  was  first  an  infant,  then  a  child,  an 
adult,  an  old  man.    But  no  matter  how  he  has  changed,  he 
always  calls  himself  "I."     This  "I"  has  always  remained 
the  same.     This  "I"  was  the  same  in  his  infancy,  in  his 
period  of  maturity,  in  his  old  age.    This  unchanging  "I"  we 
call  the  soul. 

2.  If  a  man  imagines  that  what  he  sees  all  around, 
the  infinite  universe,  is  just  as  he  sees  it,  he  is  very  much 
in  error.    All  material  things  man  knows  only  through  his 
individual  sense  of  sight,  hearing  and  touch.     Were  his 
senses  different,  the  whole  world  would  appear  different. 
Therefore  we  do  not  know,  we  can  not  know  this  material 
world  as  it  is.     Only  one  thing  we  truly  and  fully  know, 
namely  our  soul. 

II. 

The  "I"  is  Spiritual 

1.  When  we  say  "I"  we  do  not  refer  to  our  body,  but 
to  that  by  which  our  body  lives.  What  is  then  this  "I"? 
We  can  not  put  into  words  what  this  "I"  is,  but  we  know 
it  better  than  anything  else  that  we  know.  We  know  that 
but  for  this  "I"  we  should  know  nothing,  there  would  be 
nothing  in  the  world  for  us,  and  we  ourselves  should  not  be. 


46  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

2.  When  I  think  about  it,  it  is  more  difficult  for  me 
to  understand  what  my  body  is  than  what  my  soul  is.    As 
close  as  it  is  to  me,  the  body  is  something  foreign,  it  is 
the  soul  that  is  MINE. 

3.  If  a  man  is  not  conscious  of  the  soul  within  him- 
self, it  does  not  prove  that  he  has  no  soul,  but  only  that 
he  has  not  yet  learned  to  be  aware  of  the  soul  within 
himself. 

4.  Until  we  have  realized  what  is  within  us,  what 
good  is  it  to  us  to  know  what  is  beyond  us  ?    And  is  it  pos- 
sible to  know  the  world  without  knowing  ourselves?    Can 
he  who  is  blind  at  home,  possess  sight  when  he  is  abroad ? 

Scovoroda. 

5.  Just  as  a  candle  can  not  burn  without  a  fire,  man 
can  not  live  without  a  spiritual  life.     The  spirit  dwells  in 
all  men,  but  not  all  men  are  aware  of  this. 

Happy  is  the  life  of  him  who  knows  this,  and  unhappy 
his  life  who  does  not  know  it.  Brahminic  wisdom. 

III. 

The  Soul  and  the  Material  World 
1.  We  have  measured  the  earth,  the  sun,  the  stars 
and  the  depths  of  the  sea,  we  have  penetrated  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  in  search  of  gold,  we  have  explored  rivers,  the 
mountains  of  the  moon,  we  have  discovered  new  stars  and 
know  their  dimensions,  we  have  filled  up  abysses,  we  have 
built  cunning  machinery :  not  a  day  passes,  but  we  have 
new  inventions.  Is  there  a  limit  to  our  capabilities?  But 
something,  the  most  important  thing  is  lacking.  What  that 
is  we  do  not  know  ourselves.  We  are  like  babes :  the  infant 
feels  that  something1  is  wrong,  but  what  or  why,  he  does 
not  know. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  47 

Something  is  wrong  because  we  know  much  that  is 
superfluous,  but  do  not  know  the  most  needful  thing:  our 
own  self.  We  do  not  know  what  dwells  within  us.  If  we 
knew  and  remembered  what  dwells  within  us,  our  lives 
would  be  altogether  different.  Scovoroda, 

2.  All  that  is  material  ir>  this  world,  we  can  not  know 
the  true  nature  thereof.     Only  the  spiritual  that  is  within 
us  is  fully  known  to  us,  namely  that  of  which  we  are  con- 
scious, and  which  does  not  depend  upon  our  feelings  or  our 
thoughts. 

3.  There  are  no  limits,  there  can  be  no  limits  to  the 
world  in  any  direction.     No  matter  how  distant  a  thing- 
may  be,  behind  the  most  distant  there  are  other  objects  still 
more  distant.    The  same  is  true  of  time :  back  of  thousands 
of  years  that  have  passed,  there  had  been  thousands  and 
thousands  of  previous  years.     And  therefore  it  is   clear 
that  man  can  not  possibly  grasp  what  the  material  world 
is  to-day,  what  it  has  been  nor  what  it  will  be. 

What  then  can  man  understand?  Only  one  thing,  for 
which. there  is  no  need  of  either  space  or  time,  namely  his 
soul. 

4.  Men  frequently  think  that  only  that  exists  which 
they  can  touch  with  their  hands.     However,  quite  on  the 
contrary,  only  that  truly  is  that  can  not  be  seen,  heard  or 
touched,  what  we  call  "I,"  our  soul. 

5.  Confucius  said:    The  sky  and  the  earth  are  great, 
but  they  have  color,  shape  and  size.    But  there  is  something 
in  man  that  can  think  of  everything  and  has  no  color,  shape 
or  size.    Thus  if  the  whole  world  were  dead  that  which  is 
within  man  could  of  itself  give  life  to  the  world. 

6.  Iron  is  more  solid  than  stone,  stone  is  more  solid 


48  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

than  wood,  wood  is  more  solid  than  water,  water  is  more 
solid  than  air.  But  that  which  can  not  be  touched,  heard 
or  seen  is  more  solid  than  anything.  One  thing  has  always 
been,  is  now  and  will  never  be  lost. 

|          What  is  it? 

It  is  the  soul  in  man. 

7.  It  is  well  for  man  to  think  what  he  is  as  regards 
his  body.  This  body  is  large  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
flea,  insignificant  compared  with  the  earth.  It  is  also  well 
to  think  that  our  own  earth  is  a  grain  of  sand  compared 
with  the  sun,  and  the  sun  as  a  grain  of  sand  compared  with 
Sirius,  and  Sirius  is  as  nothing  compared  with  still  other 
stars,  and  so  without  end. 

It  is  clear  that  man  with  his  body  is  nothing  compared 
with  the  sun  and  the  stars.  And  to  think  that  we  were 
not  even  thought  of  a  hundred,  a  thousand,  many  thousands 
of  years  ago,  but  other  men  like  unto  us  were  still  born, 
grew  up  and  died,  that  of  the  millions  and  millions  of  men 
such  as  I  nothing  remains,  neither  bones,  nor  even  the  dust 
of  bones,  and  that  after  me  millions  and  millions  of  people 
will  live,  and  that  grass  will  grow  from  my  bones,  and  that 
sheep  will  feed  on  the  grass,  and  men  will  eat  the  sheep, 
and  nothing  will  remain  of  me,  not  a  grain  of  dust,  nor  even 
a  memory!  Is  it  not  clear  that  I  am  nothing? 

Nothing,  indeed,  but  this  nothing  has  a  conception  of 
itself  and  of  its  place  in  the  universe.  And  if  it  has  such  a 
conception,  this  conception  is  far  from  nothing,  it  is  some- 
thing that  is  more  important  than  the  entire  universe,  for 
without  this  conception  within  'me  and  within  other  crea- 
tures like  me,  that  which  I  call  the  infinite  universe  would 
not  exist.  ' 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  49 

IV. 

The  Spiritual  and  the  Material  Principles  in  Man 

1.  What    are   you?     A   man.     What    sort   of   man? 
Wherein  do  you  differ  from  others  ?    I  am  the  son  of  such 
and  such  parents,  I  am  old,  or  young,  rich  or  poor. 

Each  one  of  us  is  a  specific  individual,  different  from 
all  other  people:  man,  woman,  adult,  boy  or  girl;  and  in 
each  one  of  these  specific  individuals  dwells  a  spiritual  be- 
ing, the  same  in  all  of  us,  so  that  each  one  of  us  is  at  one 
and  the  same  time  an  individual,  John  or  Natalie,  and  a 
spiritual  being  which  is  the  same  in  all.  And  when  we  say : 
"I  will,"  it  means  that  John  or  Natalie  will,  or  sometimes 
it  may  mean  that  the  spiritual  being,  which  is  the  same  in 
all  of  us,  wills  something.  And  thus  it  may  happen  that 
John  and  Natalie  desire  one  thing,  and  the  spiritual  crea- 
ture that  dwells  within  them  does  not  desire  that  same 
thing  at  all,  but  wills  something  entirely  different. 

2.  Someone    nears   the   door.      I    inquire:     "Who   is 
there?"     The -answer  is:    "It  is  I."     "What  I?"     "I  who 
came,"  is  the  answer,  and  a  peasant  boy  enters.    He  is  sur- 
prised that  anyone  should  inquire  who  is  meant  by  "I."    He 
is  surprised  because  he  feels  within  himself  that  one  spiri- 
tual being  which  is  one  in  us  all,  and  wonders  why  I  should 
inquire  about  something  which  should  be  clear  to  everybody. 
His  answer  refers  to  the  spiritual  "I,"  but  my  question  re- 
ferred to  the  little  window  through  which  that  "I"  peeps 
out  into  the  world. 

3.  Some  say  that  what  we  call  our  self  is  merely  the 
body,  that  my  reason,  my  soul  and  my  love,  all  of  these 
come  from  the  body;  we  might  with  as  much  right  assert 
that  what  we  call  our  body  is  merely  the  food  by  which 
the  body  is  nourished.     It  is  true  that  my  body  is  merely 
the  transformed  food  that  has  been  assimilated  by  my  body, 


50  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

and  that  there  would  be  no  body  without  food,  but  my  body 
is  not  the  food.  Food  is  requisite  for  the  life  of  the  body, 
but  it  is  not  the  body. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  soul.  It  is  true  that  without 
the  body  there  would  be  no  soul,  yet  my  soul  is  not  the 
body.  The  body  is  merely  requisite  for  the  soul,  but  the 
body  is  not  the  soul.  If  it  were  not  for  the  soul,  I  should 
not  know  about  my  body. 

The  principle  of  life  is  not  in  the  body,  but  in  the  soul. 

4.  When  we  say :  "It  was,  or  it  will  be,  or  it  may  be," 
we  speak  of  bodily  life.     But  besides  the  bodily  life  which 
was  and  will  be,  we  know  of  another  life,  the  spiritual  life. 
And  the  spiritual  life  is  not  something  that  was,  or  that  will 
be,  but  something  that  is  right  now.     This  is  the  real  life. 
Happy  is  the  man  who  lives  this  life  of  the  spirit,  and  not 
the  life  of  the  body. 

5.  Christ  teaches  man  that  there  is  something  within 
him  that  raises  him  above  this  life  with  its  vanities,  fears 
and  passions.     The  man  who  has  received  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  shares  the  experience  of  the  bird  that  has  lived  in 
ignorance  of  his  wings,  and  suddenly  realizes  that  it  has 
them,  and  that  it  may  soar,  be  free  and  fear  nothing. 

V. 

Conscience  is  the  Voice  of  the  Soul 
1.  In  each  man  dwell  two  creatures:  one  blind  and 
carnal,  and  the  other  seeing  and  spiritual.  The  first,  the 
blind  creature,  eats,  drinks,  labors,  rests,  multiplies  and  per- 
forms its  functions  like  clockwork.  The  other,  the  seeing, 
the  spiritual  creature,  does  nothing  of  itself,  but  merely 
approves  or  disapproves  what  the  blind,  the  animal  creature 
is  doing. 

The  seeing,  the  spiritual  part  of  man  we  call  conscience. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  51 

This  spiritual  part  of  man,  or  conscience,  acts  like  the  com- 
pass needle.  The  compass  needle  moves  only  when  he  who 
is  carrying  it  strays  from  the  path  pointed  out  by  the  needle. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  conscience :  it  is  silent  as  long  as  the 
man  is  doing  what  i£  right. 

But  the  moment  he  strays  from  the  right  path,  con- 
science shows  him  where  and  how  far  he  had  erred. 

2.  When  we  hear  that  a  man  has  committed  an  evil 
deed,  we  say  that  he  has  no  conscience. 

What  is  then  the  conscience? 

It  is  the  voice  of  that  one  spiritual  being  that  dwells 
in  ajl  of  us. 

3.  Conscience  is  the  consciousness  of  the  spiritual  be- 
ing that  dwells  in  all  men.    And  only  when  it  is  such  con- 
sciousness is  it  the  true  guide  of  human  life.     Otherwise 
what  people  call  conscience  is  not  the  realization  of  that 
spiritual  being,  but  the  recognition  of  what  men  among 
whom  we  live  consider  good  or  evil. 

4.  The  voice  of  the  passions  may  be  louder  than  the 
voice  of  the  conscience.     But  the  voice  of  the  passions  is 
very  different  from  the  calm  voice  of  the  conscience.    And 
yet  no  matter  how  loudly  the  passions  roar,  they  subside 
before  the  still,  calm,  persistent  voice  of  the  conscience. 
For  it  is  the  voice  of  the  Eternal,  the  Divine  that  dwells 
in  man.  Channing. 

5.  Kant,  the  philosopher,  remarked  that  two  things 
excited  his  wonder  above  all  others :    first  the  stars  in  the 
heavens,  and  second  the  law  of  goodness  in  the  soul  of  man. 

6.  The  genuine  good  is  in  your  own  self,  in  your  soul. 
He  who  seeks  good  without  himself  is  like  the  shepherd 
seeking  among  his  herd  that  lamb  which  he  has  sheltered  in 
his  own  bosom.  Hindu  wisdom. 


52  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

VI. 

The  Divinity  of  the  Soul 

1.  The  first  consciousness  that  awakes  in  man  is  that 
of  being  apart  from  all  other  material  things,  or  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  body.     Then  the  consciousness  of  that 
which  is  thus  separated,  or  the  consciousness  of  his  soul, 
and  finally  the  consciousness  of  that  from  which  this  spiri- 
tual foundation  of  life  is  set  apart,  the  consciousness  of 
All— of  God. 

And  that  something  which  is  conscious  of  having  been 
severed  from  All,  from  God,  is  the  one  spiritual  being  that 
dwells  in  every  man. 

2.  To  be  conscious  of  self  as  a  separate  being  is  to  be 
conscious  of  the  existence  of  that  from  which  one  has  been 
separated,  to  be  conscious  of  the  existence  of  All — of  God. 

3.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  heareth  my 
word,  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation;  but  is  passed 
from  death  unto  life. 

Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  The  hour  is  coming,  and 
now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God :  and  they  that  hear  shall  live. 

For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself ;  so  hath  he  given 
to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself.  John,  v,  24-26. 

4.  A  drop  of  water  entering  the  ocean  becomes  the 
ocean.    The  soul  uniting  with  God  becomes  God. 

Angelus. 

5.  When  a  truth  is  uttered  by  man  it  does  not  mean 
that  the  truth  came  forth  from  the  man.    All  truth  is  from 
God.    It  merely  passes  through  man.     If  it  passes  through 
one  man  instead  of  another  it  is  merely  because  one  has 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  53 

succeeded  in  making  himself  so  transparent  that  the  truth 
can  pass  through  him.  Pascal. 

6.  God  says :    "I  was  a  treasure  unknown  to  anyone. 
I  desired  to  be  known,  and  I  created  man."      Mohammed. 

7.  God  can  not  be  comprehended  by  reason.    We  know 
that  He  is,  only  because  we  are  conscious  of  Him  within, 
and  not  because  we  recognize  Him  with  our  minds. 

In  order  to  be  a  true  man,  man  must  be  conscious  of 
God  within. 

To  ask :  "Is  there  a  God  ?"  is  like  asking :  "Do  I  exist  ?" 
That  whereby  I  live  is  God. 

8.  The  body  is  the  food  of  the  soul,  it  is  like  the  scaf- 
folding used  in  erecting  the  structure  of  true  life. 

The  greatest  joy  a  man  may  know  is  the  joy  of  realiz- 
ing the  existence  within  himself  of  a  free,  rational,  loving 
and  therefore  happy  being,  in  other  words  the  consciousness 
of  God  within. 

9.  If  a  man  does  not  know  himself,  it  is  useless  to 
counsel  him  to  endeavor  to  know  God.    This  advice  may  be 
given  only  to  such  a  man  as  knows  himself.    Before  a  man 
may  know  God,  he  must  know  himself. 

10.  If  I  melt  in  God's  crucible,  He  will  impress  His 
image  upon  me.  Angelus. 

11.  The  soul  is  a  glass,  God  is  the  Light  that  passes 
through  the  glass. 

12.  Do  not  think:    it  is  I  that  live.     It  is  not  I  that 
live,  but  that  spiritual  being  that  dwelleth  in  me.    I  am  only 
the  opening  through  which  this  creature  appears. 

13.  There  is  only  I  and  Thou.    If  it  were  not  for  us 
two,  there  would  be  nothing  in  this  world.  Angelus. 


54  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

14.  I  know  God  not  when  I  believe  what  is  said  about 
Him,  but  when  I  am  as  conscious  of  Him  as  I  am  of  my 
own  soul. 

15.  I  am  to  God — another  He.     He  finds  in  me  that 
which  for  all  eternity  remain  similar  to  Him. 

16.  It  is  as  though  man  heard  always  a  voice  behind 
him,  but  had  no  power  to  turn  his  head  and  to  behold  him 
who  speaks.     This  voice  speaks  in  all  tongues  and  guides 
all  men,  but  no  man  has  ever  discovered  him  who  speaks. 
If  only  man  obeyed  this  voice  to  the  letter  and  accepted  it 
so  as  to  keep  himself  apart  from  it  even  in  thought,  he 
would  feel  that  this  voice  and  himself  are  one.     And  the 
more  a  man  considers  this  voice  as  his  own  self,  the  better 
will  be  his  life.     This  voice  will  open  up  to  him  a  life  of 
blessedness,  because  this  voice  is  the  voice  of  God  in  man. 

Emerson. 

17.  God  desires  good  to  all,  therefore  if  you  desire 
good  to  all,  in  other  words  if  you  love,  God  lives  within  you. 

18.  Man,  do  not  remain  man.    Become  God,  only  then 
will  you  make  of  yourself  what  you  ought.          Angelus. 

19.  Some  say:    Save  your  soul.     Only  that  can  be 
saved  which  can  perish.    The  soul  can  not  perish,  for  it  is 
the  only  thing  that  exists.    The  soul  must  not  be  saved,  but 
purified  from  what  defiles  it  and  illuminated  from  what  be- 
nights  it,  so   that  God  may  pass  more  and  more   freely 
through  it. 

20.  Some  say:   "Have  you  forgotten  God?"    This  is 
a  good  question.    To  forget  God  is  to  forget  Him  who  lives 
within  you,  and  by  whom  you  live. 

21.  As  I  need  God,  so  God  needs  me.  Angelus. 

22.  If  you  grow  weak  and  it  goes  hard  with  you,  re- 
member that  you  have  a  soul  and  that  you  can  live  in  it. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  55 

But  we  imagine  instead  that  other  men  like  unto  ourselves 
can  sustain  us.  Emerson. 

23.  You  can  escape  from  the  most  difficult  situation 
the  moment  you  realize  that  you  live  not  with  your  body, 
but  with  your  soul,  and  remember  that  there  is  that  within 
you  which  is  more  powerful  than  anything  in  the  world. 

24.  He  who  is  united  with  God,  can  not  be  afraid  of 
God.     God  can  not  do  injury  to  Himself. 

25.  Man  may  ask  himself  at  any  time :   "What  am  I  ? 
What  am  I  doing?    What  am  I  thinking?    What  am  I  feel- 
ing at  this  moment?"     And  he  can  immediately  reply  to 
himself :    "I  am  doing,  thinking,  feeling  this  or  that  at  the 
present  time."     But  if  man  ask  himself:    "What  is  that 
within  me  that  is  conscious  of  what  I  am  doing,  thinking 
or  feeling?",  his  only  answer  can  be  that  it  is  the  con- 
sciousness of  self.    This  consciousness  of  self  is  what  we 
call  the  soul. 

26.  The  fish  dwelling  in  a  river  heard  once  that  people 
maintained  that  fish  could  live  only  in  the  water.    And  the 
fish  were  much  surprised  and  began  to  inquire  among  them- 
selves, asking,  "What  is  water?" 

One  of  the  wise  fish  replied :  "They  say  that  there  is  a 
very  wise  old  fish  in  the  sea,  let  us  swim  to  him  and  ask 
him  what  is  water."  And  the  fish  swam  out  to  sea,  to  where 
the  wise  old  fish  was  living,  and  asked  him :  "What  is 
water?"  And  the  wise  old  fish  answered:  "Water  is  that 
wherein  and  whereby  we  live.  The  reason  you  do  not  know 
water  is  that  you  live  in  it  and  by  it."  Even  so  it  seems 
to  people  at  times  that  they  do  not  know  what  is  God,  and 
yet  they  live  in  Him.  Sufi. 


56  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

VII. 

The  Life  of  Man  is  Not  in  the  Body  But  in  the  Soul,  Not 

in  the  Body  and  in  the  Soul,  But  in  the 

Soul  Alone 

But  he  that  sent  me  is  true;  and  I  speak  to  the  world 
those  things  which  I  have  heard  of  Him. 

They  understood  not  that  he  spake  to  them  of  the 
Father. 

Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  When  ye  have  lifted  up  the 
Son  of  man,  then  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  he,  and  that  I  do 
nothing  of  myself ;  but  as  my  Father  hath  taught  me,  I 
speak  these  things.  John,  vni,  26-28. 

To  lift  up  the  Son  of  man  is  to  recognize  in  our  self 
the  spirit  that  dwells  in  us  and  to  lift  it  up  above  the  body. 

2.  The  soul  and  the  body,  these  two  are  what  man  calls 
his  own,  the  subjects  of  his  perpetual  care.    But  you  must 
know  that  the  true  self  is  not  your  body,  but  your  soul. 
Remember  this,  raise  your  soul  above  all  flesh,  preserve 
it  from  the  filth  of  life,  do  not  allow  the  flesh  to  suppress 
it.    Then  you  will  lead  a  good  life.          Marcus  Aurelius. 

3.  Some  say  that  one  must  not  love  oneself.    Without 
loving  oneself,  there  would  be  no  life.     The  main  issue  is 
what  to  love  in  oneself;  the  soul  or  the  body? 

4.  There  is  no  body  so  strong  and  healthy  that  it  does 
not  ail  sometimes.    There  are  no  riches  that  can  not  be  lost. 
There  is  no  power  that  will  not  cease.    All  of  these  things 
are  unstable.    If  a  man  puts  the  aim  of  his  life  upon  being 
strong,   rich,   influential,   even   though   he  attain   what   he 
strives  for,  still  will  he  have  anxieties,  fears  and  griefs,  for 
he  will  see  that  all  the  things  upon  which  he  built  his  life 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  57 

must  leave  him,  and  he  will  see  himself  gradually  growing 
older  and  nearing  dissolution. 

What  to  do  then,  to  avoid  fears  and  anxieties  ? 

There  is  only  one  remedy:  to  build  your  life  not  upon 
things  that  are  fleeting,  but  upon  things  that  will  not  perish, 
upon  the  spirit  that  lives  in  man. 

5.  Do  what  your  body  asks  of  you:  seek  after  glory, 
honors  and  wealth,  and  your  life  will  be  hell.     Do  what 
the  spirit  within  you  asks :  seek  after  lowliness,  mercy  and 
love  and  you  will  not  need  any  paradise.    Paradise  will  be 
in  your  soul. 

6.  There  are  duties  to  one's  neighbors,  and  there  are 
duties  that  every  man  owes  to  himself,  to  the  spirit  that 
lives  within  him.    This  duty  is  not  to  defile  it,  not  to  destroy 
it,  not  to  suppress  this  spirit,  and  to  cultivate  is  unceasingly. 

7.  In  wordly  matters  you  are  never  sure  whether  to 
do  what  you  are  doing  or  to  forbear,  never  certain  of  the 
outcome  of  what  you  undertake.    It  is  different  if  you  live 
for  your  soul.    If  you  live  for  your  soul,  you  will  assuredly 
know  what  to  do,  namely  that  which  the  soul  demands,  and 
you  will  assuredly  know  that  good  will  come  out  of  what 
you  are  doing. 

8.  The  moment  you  feel  the  rise  of  passions,  whims, 
fear  or  malice,  remember  who  you  are ;  remember  that  you 
are  not  the  body,  but  the  soul,  and  that  which  has  agitated 
you  will  at  once  subside. 

9.  All  our  troubles  are  due  to  the  fact  that  we  forget 
that  which  dwells  within  us,  and  that  we  sell  our  soul  for 
the  mess  of  pottage  of  carnal  joys. 


58  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

10.  In  order  to  see  the  true  light  such  as  it  is,  you  must 
become  a  true  light  yourself.  Angelus. 

VIII. 

The  True  Blessedness  of  Man  is  Spiritual  Blessedness 

1.  Man  lives  by  the  spirit  and  not  by  his  body.     If  a 
man  knows  this  and  lays  out  his  life  in  the  spirit  and  not 
in  the  body,  though  you  put  him  in  chains  and  confine  him 
behind  iron  bars,  still  will  he  be  free. 

2.  Every  man  knows  two  lives  in  his  experience ;  that 
of  the  body  and  that  of  the  spirit.     The  life  of  the  body, 
no  sooner  than  it  reaches  fullness,  begins  to  grow  feeble. 
And  it  grows  more  and  more  so  until  it  reaches  dissolution. 
The  life  of  the  spirit,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  day  of 
birth  until  the  moment  of  death  constantly  develops  and 
gathers  strength. 

If  a  man  live  the  life  of  the  body,  his  entire  life  is  like 
the  life  of  a  man  sentenced  to  death.  But  if  a  man  live  for 
his  soul,  that  whereon  he  bases  his  happiness  gathers 
strength  every  day  of  his  life,  and  death  has  no  terrors 
for  him. 

In  order  to  lead  a  good  life  it  is  not  necessary  to  know 
where  you  come  from  or  what  will  be  in  the  world  to  come. 
Think  only  of  that  which  your  soul,  and  not  your  body,  de- 
sires, and  you  will  not  need  to  know  where  you  come  from 
or  what  will  be  after  death.  You  will  not  need  to  know 
these  things,  for  you  will  have  the  experience  of  that  per- 
fect blessedness  for  which  no  questions  of  the  past  and  of 
the  future  exist. 

4.  When  the  world  came  into  existence,  reason  became 
its  mother.  He  who  realizes  that  the  basis  of  his  life  is 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  59 

the  spirit,  knows  that  be  is  beyond  all  peril.  When  he 
closes  his  lips  and  locks  the  portals  of  his  senses  at  the  end 
of  life,  he  will  feel  no  anxiety.  Lao-Tse. 

5.  An  immortal  soul  requires  a  task  as  immortal  as 
itself.  And  just  such  a  task  is  assigned  to  it:  endless  striv- 
ing after  perfection  of  self  and  of  the  world. 


THERE  IS  ONE  SOUL  IN  ALL 


THERE  IS   ONE  SOUL  IN   ALL 

All  living  creatures  are  separated  one  from  another  in 
their  bodies,  but  that  which  gives  them  life  is  one  and  the 
same  in  all  of  them. 
^'^ I. 

The  Consciousness  of  the  Divinity  of  the  Soul 
Unites  All  Men 

1.  The  doctrine  of  Christ  reveals  to  men  that  one  and 
the  same  spiritual  principle  dwells  in  them  all,  and  that  they 
are  all  brothers,  and  it  unites  them  thus  for  a  life  of  happy 
communion.  Lamenais. 

2.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  the  same  kind  of  a  soul 
lives  in  every  man  as  in  me :  it  is  the  same  soul  that  dwells 
in  every  man  and  in  me.     All  human  beings  are  separated 
one  from  another  by  their  individual  bodies,  but  they  are 
all  joined  through  the  same  spiritual  principle  which  gives 
life  to  everyone. 

3.  To  be  associated  with  people  is  a  great  blessing, 
but  how  to  be  united  with  all?    Supposing  I  unite  with  my 
relatives,  how  about  the  rest  of  the  people?     Supposing  I 
unite  with  all  friends,  all  Russians,  all  co-religionists.    How 
about  people  whom  I  do  not  know,  men  of  other  national- 
ities and  religions  ?    There  are  so  many  men,  and  they  differ 
so  much.    What  I  am  to  do  ? 

There  is  only  one  remedy,  to  forget  about  people,  not 
to  worry  how  to  be  one  with  them,  but  to  strive  to  be  one 
with  that  one  spiritual  being  that  dwells  in  me  and  in  all 
men. 

4.  When  I  think  of  those  millions  upon  millions  of 
beings  living  the  same  life  as  I,  many  thousands  of  miles 
away,  people  whom  I  shall  never  know,  and  who  know 


64  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

nothing  about  me,  I  involuntarily  ask  myself :  Is  there 
really  no  tie  between  us  that  binds  us,  shall  we  die  without 
knowing  one  another?  This  can  not  be. 

Indeed,  this  can  not  be.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  I 
feel,  I  know  that  there  is  a  tie  between  myself  and  all  the 
people  in  the  world,  living  or  dead. 

What  that  tie  is  I  can  neither  understand  nor  explain, 
but  I  know  that  it  exists. 

5.  I  remember  that  someone  told  me  that  there  is  in 
every  man  much  that  is  very  good  and  humane,  and  also 
much  that  is  very  evil  and  malicious,  and  according  to  his 
disposition,  now  this,  now  the  other  is  manifested.  This 
is  perfectly  correct. 

The  sight  of  suffering  evokes  not  only  in  different  peo- 
ple, but  sometimes  in  the  same  individual  the  most  contra- 
dictory sentiments :  sometimes  compassion,  sometimes  some- 
thing akin  to  pleasure  which  may  assume  the  proportions 
of  even  malicious  joy. 

I  have  noticed  in  my  own  self  that  I  have  sometimes 
regarded  all  creatures  with  genuine  compassion,  sometimes 
with  the  most  thorough  indifference,  and  occasionally  with 
hatred  and  even  with  malice. 

This  clearly  shows  that  there  are  within  us  two  dif- 
ferent and  directly  contradictory  methods  of  consciousness. 
One,  when  we  are  conscious  of  being  individual  beings, 
when  all  other  creatures  seem  to  be  utterly  alien,  when  they 
all  are  something  else  and  not  I.  Then  we  can  feel  nothing 
towards  them  but  indifference,  envy,  hatred  or  malice.  And 
the  other  method  of  consciousness — is  the  consciousness  of 
oneness  with  them.  With  this  method  of  consciousness  all 
creatures  seem  to  us  the  same  thing  as  our  own  "I"  and 
therefore  their  sight  elicits  our  love.  The  first  method  of 
consciousness  separates  us  as  an  insurmountable  wall,  the 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  65 

other  removes  the  partition  and  we  are  fused  into  one.  The 
first  method  teaches  us  to  acknowledge  that  all  other  crea- 
tures are  something  other  than  I,  and  the  other  teaches  us 
that  all  creatures  are  the  same  "I"  that  I  recognize  within 
myself.  Schopenhauer. 

6.  The  more  a  man  lives  for  the  soul  the  better  *he 
realizes  his  oneness  with  all  living  creatures.     Live  for  the 
body,  and  you  are  alone  among  strangers ;  live  for  the  soul, 
and  all  the  world  is  your  kin. 

7.  A  river  does  not  resemble  a  pool,  a  pool  does  not 
resemble  a  barrel,  a  barrel  does  not  resemble  a  cup  of 
water.     But  the  same  water  is  found  in  the  river,  in  the 
pool,  in  the  barrel  and  in  the  cup.    Likewise  all  men  vary, 
but  the  spirit  that  lives  within  them  is  one  and  the  same. 

8.  Man  understands  the  meaning  of  life  only  when 
he  sees  himself  in  every  man. 

9.  Enter  into  conversation  with  any  man,  look  search- 
ingly  into  his  eyes,  and  you  will  feel  that  you  are  akin  to 
him,  you  will  imagine  you  had  known  him  somewhere  in 
the  past.    Why  is  it  so?    Because  that  by  which  you  live 
is  the  same  in  you  and  in  him. 

10.  In  every  man  dwells  that  spirit  than  which  there 
is  nothing  higher  in  the  world,  and  therefore  no  matter 
what   a   man   may   be :   statesman   or   convict,   prelate   or 
pauper,  they  are  all  equal,  for  in  every  one  of  them  dwells 
that  which  is  above  all  other  things  in  the  world.     To 
value    and    esteem    a    nobleman    above    a    pauper    is    like 
valuing  and  esteeming  one  gold  coin  more  than  another  be- 
cause one  is  wrapped  in  white  and  another  in  black  paper. 
Always  remember  that  the  same  soul  dwells  in  one  man 
as  in  yourself,  and  therefore  all  men  must  be  treated  alike, 
carefully  and   respectfully. 


66  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

11.  The  principal  thing  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  is 
that  He  acknowledged  all  men  to  be  brothers.     In  every 
man  he  saw  a  brother  and  therefore  he  loved  every  one, 
no  matter  who  or  what  he  was.     He  looked  upon  the  in- 
side, not  the  outside.    He  did  not  look  upon  the  body,  but 
saw  the  immortal  soul  through  the  garments  of  the  rich, 
and  through  the  rags  of  the  beggar.    In  the  most  depraved 
of   men   He   saw   something   which   could   transform  this 
fallen  man  into  the  greatest  saint,  as  great  and  as  holy  as 
He  was  Himself.  Channing. 

12.  Children  are  wiser  than  adults.     The  child  does 
not  make  any  distinction  about  the  social  status  of  people, 
but  feels  with  his  whole  soul  that  in  every  man  lives  some- 
thing which  is  one  and  the  same  in  him  and  in  all  other 
people. 

13.  If  a  man  does  not  see  in  every  neighbor  the  same 
spirit  which  unites  him  with  all  the  rest  of  the  people  in 
the  world,  he  lives  as  in  a  dream.     Only  he  is  awake  and 
lives  truly  who  sees  himself  and  God  in  his  neighbor. 

II. 

One  and  the  Same  Spiritual  Principle  Lives  Not  Only  in 
All  Men,  But  in  All  Living  Creatures 

1.  We  feel  in  our  heart  that  the  thing  by  which  we 
live,  what  we  call  our  true  "I,"  is  the  same  not  only  in  every 
man,  but  also  in  the  dog,  in  the  horse,  in  the  mouse,  in  the 
hen,  in  the  sparrow,  in  the  bee,  and  even  in  a  plant. 

2.  If  we  say  that  birds,  horses,  dogs  and  monkeys 
are  entirely  alien  to  us,  we  might  equally  reasonably  assert 
that  all  savage,  black  and  yellow  people  are  alien  to  us. 
And  if  we  consider  them  aliens,  the  black  and  the  yellow 
people  may  equally  reasonably  consider  us  aliens.     Who 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  67 

then  is  our  neighbor?  To  this  there  is  but  one  answer:  do 
not  ask  who  is  your  neighbor,  but  do  unto  every  creature 
what  you  desire  to  have  done  unto  you. 

3.  All  that  is   living  abhors  pain,  all   that  is  living 
abhors  death :  recognize  yourself  not  only  in  man,  but  in 
every  living  creature,  do  not  slay,  do  not  cause  suffering 
and  death. 

All  that  is  living  desires  the  same  things  as  you:  rec- 
ognize yourself   in  every  living  creature. 

Buddhist  Wisdom. 

4.  Man  is  higher  than  animals  not  because  he  can 
torture  them,  but  because  he  is  capable  of  having  compas- 
sion with  them,  and  man  has  compassion  with  animals  be- 
cause he  feels  that  in  them  dwells  the  same  thing  that  dwells 
in  him  also. 

5.  Compassion  with  living  things  is  most  essential  to 
any  man  who  would  advance  in  virtue.     He  who  is  com- 
passionate will  not  injure  nor  offend,  and  he  will  freely 
forgive.     A  good  man  can  not  be  lacking  in  compassion. 
And  if  a  man  be  unjust  and  mean,  such  a  man  will  surely 
be  lacking  in  compassion.     Without  compassion  towards 
all  that  is  living,  virtue  is  impossible.  Schopenhauer. 

6.  It  is  possible  to  lose  by  degrees  that  compassion  to 
living  creatures  which  is  natural  to  all  men.     It  is  partic- 
ularly noticeable  in  hunting.    Otherwise  kindly  people  grow 
accustomed  to  the  chase  and  learn  to  torture  and  kill  animals 
without   noticing  their  own   cruelty. 

7.  "Thou  shalt  not  slay" — does  not  mean  man  alone, 
but  all  that  is  living.     This  commandment  was  inscribed 
in  the  heart  of  man  before  being  graven  on  the  tablets  of 
the  law. 


08  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

8.  Men  think  it  right  to  eat  animals,  because  they  are 
led  to  believe  that  God  sanctions  it.    This  is  untrue.     No 
matter  in  what  books  it  may  be  written  that  it  is  not  sinful 
to  slay  animals  and  to  eat  them,  it  is  more  clearly  written 
in  the  heart  of  man  than  in  any  books  that  animals  are  to 
be  pitied  and  should  not  be  slain  any  more  than  human 
beings.     We  all  know  this  if  we  do  not  choke  the  voice 
of  our  conscience. 

9.  If  only  all  men  who  eat  animals  had  to  slay  them 
in  person,  the  greater  portion  of  human  beings  would  re- 
frain from  eating  meat. 

10.  We  marvel  that  there  should  have  been  men,  that 
there  still  should  be  men  who  slay  human  beings  in  order 
to  eat  their  flesh.     The  time  will  come  when  our  grand- 
children will  marvel  that  their  grandfathers  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  killing  millions  of  animals  every  day  in  order 
to  eat  them,  although  they  could  satisfy  their  hunger  both 
wholesomely  and  pleasantly  with  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
and  without  killing. 

11.  It  is  possible  to  lose  little  by  little  the  habit  of 
compassion  even  with  human  beings,  and  it  is  also  possi- 
ble  to   accustom   oneself   to  have  compassion   even   with 
insects. 

The  more  compassion  fills  the  heart  of  man,  the  better 
it  is  for  his  soul. 

12.  We  are  all  vividly  conscious  of  the  fact  that  there 
is  some  one,  identical  thing  in  all  of  us  human  beings,  but 
that  this  same  thing  is  also  in  animals  we  realize  less  vividly. 
Yet  if  we  give  a  little  thought  to  the  life  of  even  these 
little  creatures,  we  cannot  help  but  realize  that  the  same 
principle  dwells  in  them  also. 

13.  "But  surely  we  can   slay  flies  or  fleas"?     "Un- 
wittingly we  slay  with  each  movement  creatures  whom  we 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  69 

even  cannot  notice  in  ordinary  life."  This  is  commonly 
said  by  those  who  seek  to  find  excuses  for  the  cruelty  of 
men  to  animals.  Those  who  speak  thus  forget  that  man 
cannot  attain  perfection.  Even  so  in  the  matter  of  com- 
passion with  animals.  We  cannot  live  without  destroying 
other  creatures,  but  we  can  be  more  or  less  compassionate. 
The  more  compassionate  we  are  with  animals,  the  better 
it  will  be  for  our  own  souls. 

III. 

The  Better  a  Man's  Life  the  More  Clearly  He  Realizes 

the  Oneness  of  the  Divine  Principle  that 

Dwells  Within  Him 

1.  It  seems  to  people  that  they  are  all  separated  one 
from  another.     Yet  if  every  man  lived  only  his  life  apart 
from  the  others,  human  life  could  not  continue.     Human 
life  is  only  possible  because  it  is  one  and  the  same  spirit 
of  God  that  lives  in  all  men  and  because  they  realize  it. 

2.  Others  think  that  only  they  live  truly,  and  that  they 
are  everything,  and  that  all  others  are  as  nothing.     There 
are  many  such  people.     But  there  are  also  reasonable  and 
good   men   who   realize  that  the  life  of  others,  even  of 
animals,  is  in  itself  as  important  as  their  own.     Such  men 
do  not  live  in  their  "I"  alone,  but  also  in  other  beings, 
human  and  animal.    It  is  easy  for  such  men  to  live,  and  it 
is  easy  to  die.     When  they  die,  only  that  passes  away 
whereby  had  lived  in  themselves ;  that  whereby  they  lived 
in  others  remains.     Those,  however,  who  live  in  their  own 
self  alone,  have  a  narrow  life  and  a  grievous  death,  for 
when  they  come  to  die,  such  people  think  that  all  whereby 
they  lived  is  passing  away.  Schopenhauer. 

3.  Remember  that  the  same  spirit  dwells  in  every  man 


70  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

as  in  your  own  self,  and  for  this  reason  venerate  as  a  holy 
thing  not  only  your  own  soul,  but  also  the  soul  of  every  man. 

4.  Why  do  we  feel  blest  in  our  soul  after  all  works 
of  love  ?     Because  all  works  of  love  demonstrate  to  us  that 
our  true  self  is  not  only  within  our  own  personality,  but 
also  in  all  things  living. 

If  you  live  for  yourself  alone,  you  live  with  only  a 
minute  particle  of  your  true  self.  But  if  you  live  for  others 
you  feel  that  your  "I"  is  expanding. 

Living  for  self  alone,  you  will  feel  yourself  among 
enemies,  you  will  feel  that  the  happiness  of  others  obstructs 
your  own  happiness.  If  you  live  for  others,  you  will  feel 
among  friends,  and  the  happiness  of  everybody  else  will 
be  your  own  happiness.  Schopenhauer. 

5.  Man   finds  his   happiness  only   in   serving   others. 
And  he  finds  happiness  in  serving  others  because  in  serv- 
ing others  he  unites  with  the  spirit  of   God  that  dwells 
within  them. 

6.  That  divine  spirit  whereby  we  live  becomes  fully 
comprehensible  to  us  only  if  we  love  our  neighbor. 

7.  All  truly  good  works,  in  which  man  forgets  him- 
self and  thinks  solely  of  the  needs  of  another  are  wonderful 
and  would  be  incomprehensible,  if  they  were  not  so  natural 
and  habitual  to  us.     Why,  indeed,  should  a  man  deprive 
himself  of  anything,  worry  and  struggle  for  some  other 
human  being  whom  he  may  not  know,  while  there  are  so 
many  such  people  in  the  world?    It  can  be  explained  only 
in  this  way,  that  he  who  benefits  another  knows  that  he 
whom  he  benefits  is  not  a  being  separate  from  himself,  but 
the  same  being  by  which  he  himself  lives,  only  in  an- 
other form.  Schopenhauer. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  71 

8.  All  that  we  know  we  perceive  either  through  our 
five  senses,  that  is  we  see,  hear  or  touch  things,  or  by 
transporting  ourselves  into  other  creatures,  that  is,  living 
their  life.     If  we  were  to  perceive  things  only  through 
our  five  senses,  the  world  would  be  incomprehensible  to  us. 
What  we  know  of  the  world  we  know  because  through 
love  we  can  enter  into  other  creatures  and  live  their  lives. 
People  are  separated  by  their  bodies  and  cannot  under- 
stand one  another.    But  love  unites  them  all.    And  therein 
is  great  blessedness. 

9.  If  you  live  the  life  of  the  spirit  all  disunion  among 
men  causes  you  spiritual  suffering.     Why  this  suffering? 
Just  as  bodily  pain  points  to  a.  danger  menacing  the  life 
of  the  body,  even  so  spiritual  suffering  points  to  a  danger 
menacing  the  spiritual  life  of  man. 

10.  An   Indian   philosopher   remarked :   "In  you  and 
in  me,  as  well  as  in  all  creatures,  dwells  the  identical  spirit 
of  life,  and  yet  you  are  angry  with  me,  you  do  not  love 
me.     Remember  that  you  and  I  are  one.     Whatever  you 
are,  you  and  I  are  one." 

11.  No  matter  how  evil,  unjust,  stupid,  or  disagree- 
able a  man  may  be,  remember  that  in  ceasing  to  respect 
him  you  break  connection  not  only  with  him  alone,  but 
also  with  the  entire  spiritual  world. 

12.  In  order  to  live  at  peace  with  all  men  think  of  the 
common  bond  uniting  you,  and  not  of  that  which  sepa- 
rates you  from  them. 

13.  It  is  considered  a  great  and  an  unpardonable  sin 
to  treat  with  indignity  objects  of  the  external  worship  of 
men,  but  it  is  not  considered  a  sin  to  treat  human  beings 
with  indignity.     And  yet  in  the  most  depraved  man  there 
dwells  something  far  superior  to  any  objects  of  external 
worship,  which  are  only  the  work  of  human  hands. 


72  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

14.  It  is  easy  to  bear  sorrows  that  are  not  caused  by 
people,  but  by  disease,  conflagration,  inundation  or  earth- 
quake. But  it  is  very  painful  to  suffer  by  reason  of  the 
acts  of  people,  one's  brothers.  We  know  that  people  ought 
to  love  us,  but  instead  of  that  they  torture  us.  "All  people 
are  the  same  as  I.  Why  do  they  cause  me  pain?"  We 
think.  For  this  reason  it  is  easier  to  bear  sorrows  from 
illness,  conflagrations,  drouths  than  those  caused  by  human 
unkindness. 

IV. 

Effects  of  Realizing  the  Oneness  of  the  Soul  in 
All  Human  Beings 

1.  Do  we  realize  our  spiritual  brotherhood?    Do  we 
realize  that  one  and  the  same  divine  principle  exists  in  the 
souls  of  all  men  as  in  our  own?     No,   we  do  not  yet 
realize  it.     And  yet  this  is  the  one  thing  that  can  give  us 
true  liberty  and  happiness.     Liberty  and  happiness  cannot 
be  until  men  realize  their  oneness.     And  yet  if  men  were 
to  recognize  this  basic  truth  of  Christianity,  the  oneness 
of  the  spiritual  principle  in  man,  the  whole  life  of  man 
would  be  changed  and  such  relations  would  be  established 
among  men  as  we  cannot  even  imagine  at  the  present  time. 
Insults,  abuse  and  oppression  which  we  inflict  upon  our 
fellow  men  would  arouse  our  indignation  more  than  do 
the  greatest  crimes  of  the  present  day.     Yes,  we  need  a 
new  revelation,  not  of  heaven  and  hell,  but  of  the  spirit 
that  dwells  within  us.  Channing. 

2.  If  man  sought  to  distinguish  himself  from  others 
by  attaining  wealth,  honors  or  offices,  he  would  be  dis- 
satisfied, no  matter  how  he  magnified  himself,  nor  would 
he  ever  be  serene  and  happy.     But  if  he  realized  that  the 
same  divine  principle  lives  within  him  as  in  all  other  men, 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  73 

he  would  immediately  attain  peace  and  happiness,  no  matter 
in  what  state  he  might  be,  for  he  would  realize  that  there 
is  something  within  him  that  is  higher  than  anything  else 
in  the  world. 

3.  The  longer  men  live  the  better  they  realize  that 
their  life  is  only  then  happy  and  joyous  when  they  rec- 
ognize their  oneness  in  one  and  the  same  spirit  that  dwells 
in  all. 

4.  Love  provokes  love.    And  it  is  bound  to  be  so,  be- 
cause God  awaking  within  you,  awakes  Himself  also  in 
the  other  man. 

5.  When  meeting  another,  no  matter  how  disagree- 
able or  repulsive  he  may  seem  to  you,  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  through  him  you  have  the  chance  of  communion  with 
that  -spiritual  principle  that  lives  in  him,  in  yourself  and 
in   the   whole  world,   and   therefore,   you   must   not    feel 
burdened  by  this  communion,  but  be  grateful  for  it  as  a 
blessing. 

6.  A  branch  cut  off  from  the  trunk  is  by  this  same  act 
separated  from  the  tree.     Even  so  a  man  who  quarrels 
with  another  man  separates  himself  from  all  mankind.  But 
the  branch  is  cut  off  by  the  hand  of  a  stranger,  while  man 
cuts  himself  off  from  his  neighbor  through  his  own  hatred, 
and  does  not  realize  that  thereby  he  cuts  himself  apart  from 
all  mankind.  Marcus  Aurelius. 

7.  There  is  no  evil  deed  committed  for  which  only 
he  who  has  committed  it  is  punished.     We  cannot  so  hide 
ourselves  that  the  evil  within  us  does  not  pass  into  other 
people.     Our  deeds,  good  or  evil,  are  like  our  children. 
They  live  and  act  no  longer  in  accordance  with  our  will, 
but  of  their  own  accord  George  Eliot. 


74  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

8.  Human  life  is  hard  only  because  men  do  not  know 
that  the  same  soul  which  dwells  within  them  lives  also 
in  all  people.    This  accounts  for  the  enmity  of  men  among 
themselves.     This   accounts   for  some  being   rich,   others 
poor,  some  being  masters,  others  laborers;  this  accounts 
for  envy  and  malice,  this  accounts  for  all  human  suffering. 

9.  The  body  of  man  craves  only  its  own  good,  and 
men  submit  to  this  deception.     And  as  soon  as  man  lives 
for  his  body  alone,  he  disagrees  with  men  and  with  God 
and  fails  to  attain  the  good  which  he  is  seeking  after. 


LOVE 


LOVE 

The  soul  of  man,  being  separated  by  the  body  from 
God  and  from  the  souls  of  other  creatures,  strives  to  unite 
with  that  from  which  it  is  separated.  The  soul  unites  with 
God  through  a  constantly  growing  consciousness  of  God 
within  and  with  the  souls  of  other  creatures  through  a  con- 
stantly growing  manifestation  of  love. 

I. 
Love  Unites  Men  with  God  and  with  Other  Creatures 

1.  Jesus  said  to  the  lawyer:  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  mind.     This  is  the  first  and  the  great  command- 
ment." 

And  the  second  is  like  unto  it:  "Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself."  Thus  spake  the  lawyer  to  Christ,  and 
Jesus  sajd:  "Thoii  hast  answered  right,  this  do  (that  is, 
love  God  and  thy  neighbor)  and  thou  shalt  live." 

2.  Woe  unto  you,  ye  men  of  the  world.    There  is  grief 
and  worry  over  your  heads  and  under  your  feet,  to  the  right 
of  you  and  to  the  left  of  you,  and  ye  are  a  mystery  unto 
yourselves.     And  such  mysteries  will  ye  remain  unless  ye 
become  happy  and  loving  as  the  children.     Only  then  shall 
ye  know  Me,  and  knowing  Me  ye  shall  know  yourselves, 
and  only  then  shall  ye  rule  yourselves. 

And  only  then,  as  ye  look  out  of  your  soul  into  the 
world,  all  things  will  be  a  blessing  to  you,  in  the  world  and 
within  your  own  selves.  Buddhist  wisdom. 

3.  Only  perfection  can  be  loved.    Therefore,  in  order 
to  love  one  of  two  things  is  required ;  either  to  count  that 
perfect  which  is  imperfect,  or  to  love  perfection,  that  is 


78  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

God.  If  we  count  that  perfect  which  is  imperfect,  sooner 
or  later  the  error  will  be  revealed,  and  the  love  will  cease. 
But  the  love  of  God,  that  is  of  perfection,  cannot  cease. 

4.  God  is  love;  he  who  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in 
God,  and  God  dwelleth  in  him.     No  man  has  ever  seen 
God,  but  if  we  love  one  another  God  dwelleth  in  us  and  His 
love  is  perfected  in  us.    If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and  hateth 
his  brother,  he  is  a  liar;  for  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother, 
whom  he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God,  whom  he  hath 
not  seen?    Beloved,  let  us  love  one  another,  for  love  is  of 
God,  and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth 
God,  for  God  is  love.  Based  upon  1  John,  IV. 

5.  Men  can  unite  truly  only  in  God.    In  order  to  unite, 
men  need  not  walk  towards  one  another,  but  all  must  go  in 
the  direction  of  God. 

If  there  were  an  immense  temple  in  which  the  light 
entered  only  in  the  center,  from  above,  then  in  order  to  meet 
in  that  temple  all  men  would  have  to  go  towards  the  light 
in  the  center  thereof.  Even  so  in  the  world.  Let  all  men 
walk  in  the  direction  of  God,  and  eventually  they  will  all 
meet  together. 

6.  "Beloved,  let  us  love  one  another;  love  is  of  God, 
and  he  that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God.    He 
that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for  God  is  love,"  said 
John  the  Apostle. 

To  love  all  men  seems  difficult.  But  all  things  are  diffi- 
cult until  you  learn  how  to  do  them.  Men  can  learn  any- 
thing: to  sew,  to  weave,  to  till  the  soil,  to  mow,  to  forge 
iron,  to  read  and  to  write.  Even  so  they  must  learn  how  to 
love  all  people. 

And  to  learn  to  do  this  is  not  difficult,  because  loving 
one  another  has  been  ingrained  in  our  hearts. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  79 

"No  man  has  ever  seen  God,  but  if  we  love  one  an- 
other, He  dwelleth  in  us." 

And  if  God  is  love  and  dwelleth  in  us,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  learn  to  love.  We  must  only  strive  to  be  delivered  from 
that  which  hinders  love,  to  be  delivered  from  that  which 
prevents  its  outward  manifestation.  And  if  you  only  make 
a  start,  you  will  soon  attain  the  most  important  and  nec- 
essary of  all  sciences:  how  to  love  people. 

7.  There  is  nothing  more  joyful  than  the  knowledge 
that  people  love  us.     But  curiously  enough,  in  order  that 
people  might  love  us  we  need  not  strive  to  please  them,  but 
only  to  draw  nearer  to  God.     Draw  nigh  to  God,  give  no 
thought  to  people,  and  the  people  will  love  you. 

8.  Do  not  ask  God  to  unite  you.     He  has  made  you 
one  already  by  placing  His  one  and  the  same  spirit  in  you 
all.     Only  cast  off  the  things  which  divide  you,  and  you 
will  be  one. 

9.  Man  imagines  that  he  wills  his  own  good.    But  this 
is  only  seemingly  so.     It  is  the  indwelling  God  who  wills 
his  good.    And  God  wills  the  good  of  all  men. 

10.  He  who  says  that  he  loves  God  and  loves  not  his 
neighbor  deceives  the  people.     And  he  who  says  that  he 
loves  his  neighbor  and  does  not  love  God,  deceives  himself. 

11.  It  is  said  we  must  fear  God.    This  is  untrue.    We 
must  love  God,  not  fear  him.    You  can  not  love  what  you 
fear.    And  besides,  you  can  not  fear  God,  because  God  is 
love.     How  can  we  fear  love?     Do  not  fear  God,  but  be 
conscious  of  Him  within  yourself.     And  if  you  are  con- 
scious of  God  within,  you  will  fear  nothing  in  the  world. 

12.  Some  say  that  the  last  day  will  be  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, and  that  the  God  of  goodness  will  be  a  God  of  wrath. 
Yet  from  a  God  of  blessings  nothing  can  come  but  what  is 
good. 


80  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Whatever  faiths  there  be,  there  is  only  one  true  faith — 
that  God  is  love.  And  from  love  nothing  can  come  but 
good. 

Do  not  fear  whether  in  this  life  or  after  it,  nothing 
can  be,  nothing  will  be  but  good.  Persian  wisdom. 

13.  To  live  a  Godly  life  is  to  be  like  unto  God.  To  be 
like  unto  God,  you  must  fear  nothing  and  desire  nothing 
for  self.  In  order  to  fear  nothing  and  desire  nothing  for 
self,  you  need  only  love. 

Some  say,  look  within,  and  you  will  have  peace.  This 
is  not  the  entire  truth. 

Others  say:  come  out  of  self;  strive  to  forget  self  and 
seek  happiness  in  pleasures.  This  also  is  untrue.  This  is 
untrue  if  alone  for  the  reason  that  pleasures  will  not  elim- 
inate disease.  Peace  and  happiness  are  neither  within  us, 
nor  outside  of  us,  but  are  in  God,  and  God  is  both  within 
us  and  outside  of  us. 

Love  God,  and  you  will  find  in  God  that  which  you 
seek. 

II. 

Just  as  the  Human  Body  Craves  Food  and  Suffers  When 

Deprived  of  It,  so  Does  the  Soul  of  Man  Crave 
Love  and  Suffers  When  Deprived  of  It 

1.  All  things  are  drawn  to  earth  and  to  one  another. 
Even  so  all  souls  are  drawn  to  God  and  to  one  another. 

So  that  men  might  live  all  as  one,  and  not  each  for 
himself,  God  revealed  to  them  only  that  which  is  needful 
for  all,  and  not  that  which  is  needful  for  each  one  sep- 
arately. 

And  so  that  men  might  know  what  is  needful  to  all 
and  for  all,  He  entered  their  souls,  and  in  their  souls  mani- 
fested Himself  as  love. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  £1 

3.  The  troubles  of  men  do  not  come  from  poor  har- 
vests, from  conflagrations,  from  evil  doers,  but  only  from 
their  living  their  lives  apart  from  one  another.     And  they 
live  apart,  because  they  have  no  faith  in  that  voice  of  love 
which  dwells  in  them  and  which  draws  them  together. 

4.  As  long  as  man  lives  the  animal  life,  it  seems  to 
him  that  if  he  is  separated  from  other  people,  it  must  be  so 
and  cannot  be  otherwise.    But  as  soon  as  he  commences  to 
live  the  life  of  the  spirit,  he  finds  it  strange,  deplorable  and 
even  painful  to  be  apart  from  other  people,  and  he  will 
strive  to  become  one  with  them.     And  it  is  love  alone  that 
makes  people  one. 

5.  Every  man  knows  that  he  must  do  those  things 
which  unite  him  with  people  rather  than  those  which  sep- 
arate him  from  them ;  he  knows  it  not  because  any  one  has 
so  commanded  him,  but  because  the  more  he  unites  with 
people,  the  better  he  lives,  and,  o,n  the  contrary,  the  more 
he  separates  from  them,  the  worse  is  his  life. 

6.  The  business  of  every  man's  life  is  to  grow  better 
and  better  every  year,  every  month,  every  day.     And  the 
better  men  become,  the  more  closely  they  unite  one  with 
another.     And  the  more  closely  they  unite,  the  better  be- 
comes their  life. 

7.  The  more  I  love  a  person,  the  less  I  feel  my  sep- 
aratedness  from  him.     It  seems  as  though  he  is  the  same 
as  I,  I  the  same  as  he. 

8.  If  we  only  firmly  held  to  this  rule;  to  be  one  with 
people  in  the  things  on  which  we  agree,  without  demand- 
ing their  adherence  to  the  things  from  which  they  dissent. 
we  would  be  much  closer  to  Christ  than  those  so-called 
Christians  who  keep  themselves  aloof  from  men  of  other 
religions,  demanding  their  adherence  to  their  own  view  of 
the  truth. 


82  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

9.  Love  your  enemies,  and  you  will  have  no  enemies. 

10.  The  path  to  union  is  as  discernible  as  a  plank 
thrown  across  a  puddle.     The  moment  you  swerve  from 
the  path  you  find  yourself  in  the  mire  of  worldly  vanities, 
quarrels  and  malice. 

III. 

Love  is  Only  then  Genuine  When  It  Embraces  All 

1.  God  wanted  us  to  be  happy,  and  for  that  reason 
endowed  us  with  a  longing  for  happiness,  but  He  wanted 
us  to  be  happy  in  the  aggregate  and  not  as  individuals,  and 
for  that  reason  He  endowed  us  with  a  longing  for  love.    For 
this  reason  men  will  be  happy  only  when  they  all  love  one 
another. 

2.  The  Roman  philosopher  Seneca  asserted  that  all 
that  is  living,  all  that  we  see  about  us,  is  one  body ;  even  as 
our  own  hands,  feet,  stomach  and  bones,  we  are  all  mem- 
bers of  one  body.    We  have  all  been  born  alike,  we  all  alike 
seek  our  own  good,  we  all  understand  that  it  is  better  for 
us  to  help  one  another,  rather  than  to  harm  one  another. 
The  same  love  to  one  another  has  been  implanted  in  our 
hearts.    We  are  like  stones  joined  together  in  an  arch  and 
are  bound  to  collapse  unless  we  support  one  another. 

3.  Every  man  strives  to  do  as  much  good  for  himself 
as  possible,  and  the  greatest  good  in  the  world  is  to  be  in 
love  and  harmony  with  all  people.    How  then  can  we  attain 
this  boon  if  we  feel  that  we  love  some  people,  but  do  not 
love  others  ?    We  must  learn  to  love  those  whom  we  do  not 
love.    Man  learns  the  most  difficult  tasks,  he  learns  to  read 
and  write,  acquires  sciences  and  crafts.     If  man  only  ap- 
plied himself  as  assiduously  to  acquiring  love  as  to  learning 
various  crafts,  and  sciences,  he  would  soon  train  himself 
to  love  all  persons,  even  those  who  are  distasteful  to  him. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  83 

4.  If  you  realize  that  love  is  the  most  important  thing 
in  life,  you  would  not  on  meeting  a  man  debate  wherein  he 
could  be  useful  to  you,  but  how  and  wherein  you  could  be 
useful  to  him.    Follow  this  rule,  and  you  will  always  suc- 
ceed better  than  if  you  took  care  of  yourself  alone. 

5.  If  we  love  those  who  attract  us,  who  praise  us,  who 
do  us  good,  then  we  love  for  ourselves,  so  as  to  better  our- 
selves.    Genuine  love  is  when  we  love  not  for  ourselves, 
seeking  no  benefit  for  ourselves,  but  for  those  whom  we 
love,  and  when  we  love  not  because  people  are  attractive  or 
useful  to  us,  but  because  we  acknowledge  in  every  being 
that  spirit  which  dwells  in  us. 

Only  when  we  love  in  this  manner  can  we  love  those 
that  hate  us,  our  enemies,  as  Christ  taught  us  to  do. 

6.  We  must  respect  every  man,  no  matter  how  miser- 
able or  ridiculous  he  may  be.    We  must  remember  that  in 
every  man  dwells  the  same  spirit  as  in  us.    Even  if  a  man  is 
repulsive,  both  as  to  body  and  as  to  soul,  we  must  think  like 
this:    "There  must  be  such  odd  people  in  the  world,  we 
must  bear  with  them."    But  if  we  show  such  people  that  we 
loathe  them,  we  are  in  the  first  instance  unjust,  and  then 
we  challenge  their  bitter  animosity. 

Such  as  he  is  he  cannot  alter  himself.  What  else  can  he 
do  but  to  fight  us  like  a  deadly  enemy  if  we  show  hostility 
to  him?  We  would,  indeed,  be  good  to  him  if  he  ceased  to 
be  as  he  is.  But  he  cannot  do  this.  Therefore,  we  must  be 
good  to  every  man  just  as  he  is,  not  requiring  of  him  to  do 
that  which  he  cannot  do,  not  requiring  him,  in  other  words, 
to  cease  to  be  himself.  Schopenhauer. 

7.  Endeavor  to  love  him  whom  you  once  did  not  love, 
whom  you  have  condemned,  or  who  may  have  done  you  an 
injury.    And  if  you  succeed  in  doing  so,  you  will  learn  a 


84  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

new  joy.  Even  as  a  bright  light  dispelling  the  darkness,  the 
light  of  love  will  shine  gloriously  and  joyously  in  your  heart 
once  you  rid  yourself  of  hatred. 

8.  The  best  of  men  is  he  who  loves  all  and  does  good 
to  all  without  distinction,  whether  they  be  good  or  bad. 

Mohammed. 

9.  Why  is  a  disagreement  with  a  fellow  man  so  pain- 
ful, and  hatred  of  a  fellow  man  still  more  painful?     Be- 
cause we  all  feel  that  the  principle  which  makes  us  all  hu- 
man beings  is  the  same  in  all  of  us,  so  that  when  we  hate 
others,  we  are  in  discord  with  that  which  is  one  in  all,  we 
are  in  discord  with  ourselves. 

10.  "I  am  weary,  I  am  despondent,  I  am  lonely."    Who 
told  you  to  separate  yourself  from  all  people  and  to  shut 
yourself  up  in  the  prison  house  of  your  solitary,  miserable 
and  futile  self? 

11.  Act  so  that  you  may  tell  every  man :  "Do  as  I  do." 

Kant. 

12.  Until  I  see  that  the  principal  precept  of  Christ,  to 
love  your  enemy,  is  observed,  I  shall  not  believe  that  those 
who  call  themselves  Christians  are  Christians  indeed. 

Lessing. 
IV. 

Only  the  Soul  May  Be  Truly  Loved 

1.  Man  loves  himself.     But  if  in  loving  himself  he 
loves  his  body,  he  is  in  error.     Such  love  will  bring  him 
nothing  but  sufferings.     Loving  himself  is  only  then  right 
when  man  in  doing  so  loves  his  soul.    And  the  soul  is  the 
same  in  all  people.    Therefore,  if  a  man  loves  his  soul,  he 
will  also  love  the  souls  of  other  people. 

2.  All  men  crave  one  thing  and  work  for  it  unceas- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  85 

ingly,  namely  to  live  well.  Therefore,  since'  the  earliest 
days  and  in  all  places  saints  and  sages  have  taught  their 
fellow  men  how  to  live  so  as  to  make  life  good  instead 
of  evil.  And  all  these  saints  and  sages,  in  many  climes 
and  different  periods,  have  taught  men  one  and  the  same 
doctrine. 

This  doctrine  is  brief  and  plain. 

It  shows  that  all  men  live  by  the  same  spirit,  that  all 
men  are  one  and  the  same,  but  are  separated  in  this  life 
by  their  bodies,  and  if  they  realize  that  they  all  live  by  the 
same  spirit,  they  must  all  unite  in  love.  And  if  men  do 
not  realize  this,  and  live  by  their  separate  bodies,  they  are 
hostile  to  one  another  and  are  unhappy. 

Therefore,  the  whole  doctrine  consists  in  doing  the 
things  that  unite  people,  and  avoiding  the  things  that  sepa- 
rate them.  It  is  easy  to  believe  in  this  doctrine,  because 
it  has  been  implanted  in  the  heart  of  every  man. 

3.  If  a  man  lives  only  the  life  of  his  body,  he  imprisons 
himself.     Living  for  the  soul  opens  the  door  of  this  prison 
and  leads  man  into  the  joyful  life  of  freedom  that  is  com- 
mon to  all. 

4.  The  body  seeks  only  its  own  blessing,  though  the 
soul  be  harmed.     The  soul  seeks  its  own  blessing,  though 
the  body  be  harmed.     This  struggle  continues  until  man 
realizes  that  his  life  is  not  in  the  body,  but  in  the  soul, 
and  that  the  body  is  only  the  material  with  which  the  soul 
must  do  its  work. 

5.  If  two  men  start  on  a  journey  from  Moscow  to 
Kieff,  no  matter  how  far  they  are  one  from  the  other,  even 
if  one  be  close  to  the  gates  of  Kieff,  and  the  other  had 
just  left  Moscow,  eventually  they  will  meet  in  one  place. 
But  no  matter  how  close  together  they  be,  if  one  start 


86  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

for  Moscow  and  the  other  for  Kieff,  they  will  be  always 
apart. 

Even  so  with  the  life  of  men.  The  saint,  if  he  lives 
for  his  soul,  and  the  weakest  sinner,  if  he  but  live  for  his 
soul,  live  for  one  and  the  same  thing  and  sooner  or  later 
the  two  must  meet.  But  if  two  men  dwell  together,  and 
one  lives  for  his  body,  while  the  other  lives  for  his  soul, 
they  will  inevitably  draw  further  and  further  apart. 

6.  It  is  hard  for  people  to  live  without  knowing  wh} 
they  live.  Yet  there  are  people  who  are  so  sure  that  it  is 
impossible  to  know  this  that  they  even  boast  of  it. 

But  it  is  not  only  possible,  it  is  necessary  to  know  why. 
The  meaning  of  life  is  to  make  the  soul  more  and  more 
independent  of  the  body  and  to  bring  it  into  union  with 
the  souls  of  others  and  with  the  principle  of  all — God. 

People  think  and  say  that  they  do  not  know  this  only 
because  they  do  not  live  in  accord  with  the  teachings  of  all 
the  wise  men  of  the  world,  and  even  with  the  dictates  of 
their  own  reason  and  conscience. 

V. 
Love  is  a  Natural  Characteristic  of  Man 

1.  It  is  as  natural  for  a  man  to  love  as  it  is  for  water 
to  flow  downward.  Oriental  wisdom. 

2.  A  bee  obeying  the  law  of  its  nature  must  fly,  a 
serpent  must  creep,  a  fish  must  swim  and  a  man  must  love. 
Therefore,  if  a  man  instead  of  loving  injures  others,  he 
acts  as  unnaturally  as  a  bird  that  would  swim  or  a  fish 
that  would  fly. 

3.  A  horse  seeks  safety  from  its  enemy  by  the  speed 
of  its  legs.     It  is  unfortunate  not  when  it  cannot  sing  like 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  87 

a  bird,  but  when  it  has  lost  that  which  is  natural  to  it — 
the  speed  of  its  legs. 

The  most  precious  possession  of  a  dog  is  its  scent.  If 
it  loses  that,  it  is  unfortunate,  but  not  if  it  is  unable  to  fly. 

Even  so  man  is  not  then  unfortunate  if  he  is  unable 
to  overpower  a  bear  or  a  lion  or  wicked  adversaries,  but 
if  he  loses  his  most  precious  gift,  his  spiritual  nature,  his 
capacity  to  love.  Feel  no  regrets  if  a  man  die,  or  lose  his 
wealth,  if  he  be  without  home  or  estate;  none  of  these 
things  belong  to  man.  But  grieve  if  a  man  lose  his  truest 
possession,  his  supreme  blessing, — his  capacity  to  love. 

Epictetus. 

4.  A  girl  who  was  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  was  taught 
to  read  and  write  by  the  sense  of  touch;  her  teacher  en- 
deavored to  explain  to  her  the  meaning  of  love,  and  the 
little  girl  answered :     "Yes,  I  understand,  it  is  that  which 
people  always  feel  one  towards  another." 

5.  A  Chinese  philosopher  was  asked  the  meaning  of 
science.     He  replied:     "To  know  people."     He  was  asked 
the  meaning  of  virtue.    He  replied  to  love  people. 

6.  There  is  only  one  unerring  guide  for  all  the  crea- 
tures of  the  world.     This  guide  is  the  Universal   Spirit 
which  impels  every  creature  to  do  that  which  it  ought  to  do. 
This  spirit  commands  fhe  tree  to  grow  up  towards  the  sun ; 
this  same  spirit  in  the  flower  commands  it  to  pass  into 
seed,  in  the  seed  commands  it  to  sink  into  the  soil  and  to 
grow.     In  man  this  Spirit  commands  him  to  seek  union 
with  other  creatures  through  love. 

7.  A  Hindu  philosopher  said :     "As  a  mother  guards 
her  only  child,  nursing  it,  cherishing  it,  educating  it,  so 
thou,  Everyman,  nurse,  cherish  and  develop  within  thyself 
that  which  is  the  most  precious  tning  in  the  world:  love 


88  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

to  others  and  to  all  living  creatures."  All  faiths  teach 
this:  the  faith  of  the  Brahmins,  of  the  Jews,  of  the  Budd- 
hists, of  the  Chinese,  of  the  Christians  and  of  the  Moham- 
medans. Therefore  the  most  necessary  thing  in  the  world 
is  to  learn  to  love. 

8.  Among  the  Chinese  there  were  three  sages — Con- 
fucius, Lao-Tse  and  Mi-Ti,  the  last  of  whom  is  but  little 
know  to  us.     Mi-Ti  taught  that  men  should  be  trained  to 
respect  love  alone,  and  not  power,  wealth  or  courage.    He 
said:  men  are  trained  to  esteem  wealth  and  glory  above  all 
other  things  and  they  care  only  for  the  attainment  of  wealth 
and  glory,  but  they  should  be  trained  to  esteem  love  above 
all  things  and  to  care  in  their  lives  for  the  attainment  of 
love  for  other  people,  and  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors 
in  order  to  learn  to  love. 

No  attention  was  paid  to  Mi-Ti.  Mendse,  a  disciple 
of  Confucius,  disagreed  with  Mi-Ti,  saying  that  one  cannot 
live  by  love  alone.  And  the  Chinese  listened  to  Mendse. 
Five  hundred  years  passed,  and  Christ  taught  the  same  doc- 
trine as  Mi-Ti.  Only  he  brought  it  out  more  strongly  and 
clearly.  But  even  now,  although  they  do  not  dispute  the 
teaching  of  love,  the  followers  of  Christ  fail  to  obey  his 
teaching.  But  the  time  is  coming,  it  is  coming  soon,  when 
men  will  be  unable  to  avoid  obeying  this  doctrine,  because 
it  is  implanted  in  the  hearts  of  all  men,  and  failure  to  obey 
it  causes  men  to  suffer  increasingly. 

9.  A  time  must  come  when  men  will  cease  to  fight, 
battle,  put  people  to  death,  and  when  they  will  love  one 
another.    This  time  is  bound  to  come,  because  the  love  of 
fellow  men,  and  not  their  hatred,  has  been  implanted  in  the 
souls  of  men. 

Let  us  then  do  all  within  our  power  to  hasten  this  time. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  89 

VI. 

Love  Alone  Brings  True  Blessing 

1.  You  crave  that  which  is  good?     You  shall  attain 
that  which  you  seek,  if  you  but  crave  that  good  which  is 
good  for  all.     And  love  alone  can  yield  it. 

2.  "He  who  would  save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  he  who 
would  give  his  life  for  the  sake  of  good,  shall  save  it.    What 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  soul?"    So  spake  Christ,  and  even  so  spake  the  pagan 
Roman  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius:     "When,  O  my  soul," 
he  addressed  himself,  "wilt  thou  obtain  mastery  over  my 
body?    When  wilt  thou  be  delivered  from  all  wordly  de- 
sires and  sorrows  and  cease  to  require  that  men  serve  thee 
with   life   or   death?      When   wilt   thou    realize   that   the 
genuine  good  is  always  in  thy  power,  that  it  consists  in 
one  thing  only,  namely,  love  for  all  people  ?" 

3.  "He  that  saith  he  is  in  the  light,  and  hateth  his 
brother,  is  in  darkness  even  until  now. 

He  that  loveth  his  brother  abideth  in  the  light,  and  there 
is  none  occasion  of  stumbling  in  him. 

But  he  that  hateth  his  brother  is  in  darkness,  and 
walketh  in  darkness,  and  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth, 
because  that  darkness  has  blinded  his  eyes.  .  .  .  Let  us 
not  love  in  word,  neither  in  tongue ;  but  in  deed  and  in  truth. 

And  hereby  we  know  that  we  are  of  the  truth,  and 
shall  assure  our  hearts  before  him."  1  John. 

4.  I  do  not  know,  and  indeed  I  cannot  know,  whether 
this  or  that  religious  teacher  is  right,  but  that  the  best 
thing  I  can  do  is  to  increase  the  love  within  me,  this  I 
know  for  a  certainty,  and  can  have  no  doubt  on  that  score. 
I  can  have  no  doubt  of  that  because  the  increase  of  love 
within  me  immediately  increases  my  happiness. 


90  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

5.  If  all  men  were  truly  one,  that  which  we  under- 
stand to  be  our  own  individual  life  (our  life  apart  from 
others)  would  not  exist  as  such,  because  our  life  is  a  con- 
tinued striving  for  a  union  of  that  which  is  disunited.  In 
this  constantly  increasing  union  of  that  which  is  disunited 
is  true  life  and  the  one  true  blessing  of  life. 

6.  We  find  everything,  but  we  cannot  find  ourselves. 
How  strange.     Man  lives  many  years  in  the  world  and 
cannot  observe   when   he   feels  best  of  all.      If  he  only 
chanced   to    observe   this,    he   would   clearly   comprehend 
wherein  is  true  happiness.     He  would  clearly  comprehend 
that  he  feels  happy  only  when  there  is  love  in  his  soul 
for  others. 

Evidently  we  little  commune  with  our  own  self  in 
solitude,  if  we  have  not  found  this  out. 

We  have  corrupted  our  minds  and  no  longer  strive 
to  learn  that  which  is  needful  for  us. 

If  amid  the  vanities  of  life  we  stopped  for  a  season 
to  look  within  our  own  self,  we  should  discover  wherein 
is  our  true  happiness. 

Our  body  is  weak,  unclean,  mortal,  but  a  treasure  is 
concealed  in  it,  the  immortal  spirit  of  God.  If  we  but  rec- 
ognize this  spirit  within  us,  we  shall  love  our  fellow  man, 
and  if  we  love  our  fellow  man,  we  shall  attain  all  that  our 
heart  desires :  we  shall  be  happy.  Scovoroda. 

7.  Only  when  man  realizes  how  unstable  and  miser- 
able is  the  life  of  the  body,  will  he  realize  all  the  blessedness 
that  love  can  yield. 

8.  Material  blessings  and  pleasures  of  all  kinds  are  at- 
tained only  at  the  cost  of  robbing  others.    Spiritual  benefits 
and  the  blessing  of  love,  on  the  other  hand,  are  attained  by 
increasing  the  happines  of  others. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  91 

9.  All  our  modern  improvements,  such  as  railways, 
telegraphs,  and  all  kinds  of  machinery,  may  be  useful  for 
the  uniting  of  people,  and  therefore  for  the  hastening  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.    But  the  trouble  is  that  men  have  be- 
come fascinated  with  these  improvements  and  think  that  if 
they  invent  more  and  more  machines  they  will  hasten  the 
Kingdom  of  God.    This  is  as  grievous  an  error  as  though 
a  man  were  to  keep  plowing  the  same  tract  of  land  over  and 
over  again  without  sowing  any  seed.     In  order  that  all  of 
these  things  be  truly  useful,  men  should  perfect  their  soul, 
develop  love.    Without  love,  telephones,  telegraphs,  flying 
machines  do  not  unite  people,  but  on  the  contrary  drive 
them  further  and  further  apart. 

10.  It  is  pitiful  and  absurd  to  see  a  man  searching  for 
something  which  is  hanging  from  his  own  back.    And  it  is 
equally  pitiful  and  absurd  for  man  to  seek  blessing  without 
knowing  that  it  consists  of  the  very  love  which  is  implanted 
in  his  own  heart. 

Do  not  look  upon  the  world  and  the  deeds  of  men,  but 
gaze  into  your  own  soul,  and  you  will  find  therein  that  bless- 
ing which  you  seek  where  it  is  not,  you  will  find  love,  and 
having  found  love,  you  will  see  that  this  blessing  is  so  great 
that  he  who  possesses  it  will  not  crave  anything  else. 

Krishna. 

11.  When  you  are  disheartened,  when  you  are  afraid 
of  people,  when  your  life  has  become  a  tangle,  say  to  your- 
self :  Let  me  cease  to  worry  as  to  what  will  become  of  me, 
let  me  love  all  those  with  whom  I  come  in  contact,  and  let 
me  be  content,  come  what  may.    Just  try  to  live  like  this, 
and  you  will  see  how  all  things  will  right  themselves,  and 
you  will  have  nothing  to  fear  or  to  desire. 

12.  Do  good  to  your  friends,  that  they  may  love  you 


92  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

still  more.    Do  good  to  your  enemies  that  they  may  become 
your  friends.  Cleobulos.    ' 

13.  Just  as  all  the  water  will  escape  from  a  vessel  if 
there  be  a  hole  in  its  bottom,  so  all  the  joys  or  love  will 
leave  the  soul  of  man  if  it  contain  hatred,  though  he  hate 
but  one  person  only. 

14.  Some  say :    "What  is  the  sense  of  doing  good  to 
others  if  they  render  evil  for  good?"    But  if  you  love  him 
unto  whom  you  do  good,  you  have  already  received  your  re- 
ward in  your  love  to  him,  and  you  will  receive  a  still  greater 
reward  if  you  bear  in  love  that  evil  which  he  renders  to  you. 

15.  If  a  good  deed  is  performed  with  some  end  in  view, 
it  is  no  longer  a  good  deed.     True  love  is  when  you  love 
without  knowing  why  or  for  what  purpose. 

16.  People  frequently  think  that  if  they  love  their  fel- 
low men  they  have  acquired  merit  before  God.     But  the 
contrary  is  true.    If  you  love  your  fellow  men,  you  have  not 
acquired  merit  before  God,  but  God  has  granted  you  some- 
thing you  did  not  deserve,  the  supreme  blessing  of  life — 
love. 

17.  "We  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto 
life,  because  we  love  the  brethren.     He  that  loveth  not  his 
brother,  abideth  in  death."  1  John,  III,  14. 

18.  Yes,  the  time  will  come,  that  very  time  will  come 
soon  of  which  Christ  spake  longing  for  it  to  come,  the  time 
will  come  when  men  will  be  proud  not  of  having  gained  by 
force  dominion  over  other  men  and  the  fruit  of  their  labors, 
when  they  will  rejoice  not  in  arousing  the  fear  and  the  envy 
of  others,  but  will  be  proud  of  loving  all  men,  and  rejoice  in 
cherishing  that  feeling  of  love  which  delivers  them  from  all 
evil,  in  spite  of  all  injuries  that  may  be  inflicted  upon  them 
by  others. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  93 

19.    There  is  a  parable  concerning  love: 

There  was  once  a  man  who  never  thought  or  cared  for 
self,  but  always  took  thought  and  care  for  his  fellow  men. 

And  the  life  of  this  man  was  so  wondrous  that  the 
angels  marveled  at  its  goodness  and  rejoiced  in  it. 

And  one  of  the  angels  said  unto  another:  "This  man 
is  holy,  and  he  is  not  even  aware  of  it.  There  be  few  such 
men  in  the  world.  Let  us  ask  him  how  we  may  serve  him, 
what  gift  he  desires  that  we  may  bestow  upon  him."  "Let 
it  be  so,"  replied  the  other  angel.  And  one  of  the  angels, 
unseen  and  inaudible,  but  very  clearly  and  plainly,  said  unto 
the  saint :  "We  have  seen  your  life  and  its  saintliness,  and 
we  would  know  what  gift  we  may  bestow  upon  you.  Tell 
us  what  you  desire — to  relieve  the  needs  of  all  whom  you 
see  and  whom  you  pity?  We  can  do  so.  Or  would  you 
have  us  grant  you  such  power  as  to  deliver  others  from  pain 
and  suffering,  so  that  he  with  whom  you  have  compassion 
shall  not  die  before  his  time?  This  also  is  in  our  power. 
Or  would  you  have  all  people  in  the  world,  men,  women  and 
children,  love  you  ?  We  can  do  this  too.  Only  tell  us  what 
your  heart  desires?" 

And  the  saint  replied:  "None  of  these  things  do  I 
crave.  It  is  for  God  to  deliver  men  from  his  visitations ; 
from  need  and  suffering,  from  pain  and  untimely  death. 
And  as  for  the  love  of  people,  I  fear  it,  I  fear  that  the  love 
of  the  people  might  tempt  me,  might  impede  me  in  my  one 
main  concern  to  increase  within  myself  love  towards  God 
and  towards  my  fellow  man." 

And  the  angels  said:  "Yes,  indeed,  this  man  is  holy 
with  true  holiness  and  truly  loves  God." 

Love  gives,  but  seeks  nothing  in  return. 


SINS,  ERRORS  AND  SUPERSTITIONS 


SINS,    ERRORS    AND    SUPERSTITIONS 

Human  life  would  be  an  unceasing  source  of  blessings, 
if  superstitions,  errors  and  sins  did  not  deprive  men  of 
the  capacity  of  enjoying  these  blessings.  Sin  is  an  in- 
dulgence of  bodily  passions;  errors  are  incorrect  ideas  of 
man's  relation  to  the  world;  superstitions  are  false  beliefs 
accepted  as  a  religion. 

I. 

True  Life  is  Not  in  the  Body,  But  in  the  SpLit 

1.  When  the  plowman  fails  to  guide  the  plow  properly 
and  it  slips  out  of  the  furrow  without  picking  up  that  which 
it  should  pick  up,  the  Russian  peasant  terms  this  "sin."    It 
is  the  same  in  life.    Sin  is  when  the  man  fails  to  guide  his 
body  in  the  right  furrow  and  it  slips  and  misses  doing 
what  it  ought. 

2.  In  their  youth  people  who  do  not  know  the  true  aim 
of  life,  which  is  union  through  love,  see  their  aim  in  the 
gratification  of  their  carnal  passions.     It  would  not  be  so 
bad  if  this  delusion  remained  a  mental  delusion;  but  the 
gratification  of  carnal  passions  defiles  the  soul,  and  the  man 
who  has  defiled  his  soul  through  a  life  of  indulgence  loses 
the  capacity  of  seeking  his  happiness  in  love.     It  is  as 
though  a  man  seeking  pure  water  to  drink  were  to  defile 
the  cup  from  which  he  intended  to  drink. 

3.  You  wish  to  give  your  body  as  much  pleasure  as 
you  can.     But  will  your  body  live  long?    To  care  for  the 
blessings  of  the  body  is  like  building  a  house  upon  ice. 
What  joy,  what  security  can  there  be  in  such  a  life?    Will 
you  not  fear  that  sooner  or  later  the  ice  will  melt?    That 
sooner  or  later  you  will  have  to  leave  your  mortal  body? 


98  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Move  your  house  to  firm  soil,  work  on  that  which  dieth 
not;  improve  your  soul,  free  yourself  from  sins,  errors 
and  superstitions.  Gr.  Scovoroda. 

4.  The  child  is  not  yet  aware  of  his  soul  and  cannot 
find  himself  in  the  predicament  of  the  adult,  who  hears 
two  conflicting  voices  within, — one  saying :    "Eat  of  it  your- 
self," and  the  other  "give  him  to  eat  who  asks;"  one  says 
"avenge;"  the  other:  "forgive."     One  says  "believe  what 
is  told  you,"  the  other:  "think  for  yourself." 

<j  The  older  a  man  grows  the  more  frequently  he  hears 
these  two  conflicting  voices,  one  the  voice  of  the  body, 
the  other  the  voice  of  the  spirit.  Happy  is  the  man  who 
has  trained  himself  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  spirit,  and  not 
the  voice  of  the  body. 

5.  Some  men  base  their  life  on  the  indulgence  of  their 
belly,  others  on  sexual  lust,   some  on  power,  others  on 
worldly  fame,  and  they  dissipate  their  energy  upon  the  at- 
tainment of  these  objects,  but  one  thing,  and  one  only  is 
needful,  namely  to  cultivate  their  soul. 

This  alone  gives  them  true  happiness,  that  happiness 
which  no  one  can  take  away  from  them. 

6.  No  man  can  serve  two  masters;  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other;  or  else  he  will  hold  to 
the  one,  and  despise  the  other.    Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon.  Matthew  VI,  24. 

7.  You  cannot  at  the  same  time  pay  heed  to  your  soul 
and  to  worldly  blessings.    If  you  would  have  worldly  bless- 
ings, give  up  your  soul ;  if  you  would  save  your  soul,  give 
up   worldly   blessings.     Otherwise   you   will    only   wobble 
between  the  two,  and  fail  to  attain  either  the  one  thing  or 
the  other. 

8.  Men  would  attain  freedom  by  safeguarding  their 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  99 

body  against  anything  that  might  curb  it  or  hinder  it  from 
carrying  out  its  will.  Therein  is  a  grievous  error.  The 
very  safeguards  they  use  to  preserve  their  body  from  all 
hindrances:  wealth,  honor,  and  glory  fail  to  give  them  the 
freedom  they  crave,  but  on  the  contrary  they  bind  them  all 
the  more  securely.  In  order  to  attain  greater  liberty,  men 
build  themselves  a  prison  out  of  their  own  sins,  errors  and 
superstitions,  and  confine  themselves  therein  of  their  own 
free  will. 

9.  The  purpose  of  our  life  in  this  world  is  twofold : 
first  to  bring  our  soul  to  a  full  growth,  second  to  establish 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  upon  earth.     Both  purposes  are 
attained  by  the  same  means :  by  releasing  within  ourselves 
that  light  of  the  spirit  which  was  put  into  our  soul. 

10.  The  true  path  is  straight  and  free,  and  you  cannot 
stumble  if  you  walk  therein.     The  moment  you  feel  that 
your  feet  are  enmeshed  in  the  cares  of  earthly  life ;  know 
by  this  same  token  that  you  have  strayed  from  the  true  path. 

II. 

What  are  Sins? 

1.  According  to  the  teachings  of  the  Buddhists  there 
are  five  principal  commandments:     First,  do  not  wittingly 
slay  a  living  creature ;  second,  do  not  appropriate  that  which 
another  person  believes  to  be  his;  third,  be  chaste;  fourth, 
do  not  speak  untruth;  fifth,  do  not  stupefy  yourself  with 
intoxicating   drink    or   fumes.      Therefore    the    Buddhists 
count  the  following  as  sins :  murder,  theft,  adultery,  drunk- 
enness, lying. 

2.  According  to  the  teaching  of  the  Gospels  there  are 
only  two  commandments  of  love :     "A  lawyer  asked  him 
a  question,  tempting  him,  and  saying,  Master,  which  is  the 
great  commandment  in  the  law?" 


100  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind. 

This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment. 

And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself."  Matthew  XXII,  35-39. 

Therefore  in  accordance  with  the  Christian  doctrine 
sin  is  all  that  is  out  of  harmony  with  these  two  com- 
mandments. 

3.  Men  are  not  punished  for  their  sins,  but  by  the 
sins  themselves.     And  this  is  the  severest  and  the  surest 
punishment. 

It  may  be  that  a  cheat  or  a  bully  lives  all  his  life  and 
dies  in  luxury  and  honors,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  he 
has  escaped  the  punishment  of  his  sins.  This  punishment 
will  not  be  imposed  somewhere  where  nobody  has  ever 
been  or  ever  will  be,  but  it  has  been  exacted  right  here. 
Right  here  is  the  punishment  of  man  inasmuch  as  each  new 
sin  removes  him  further  and  further  away  from  true  happi- 
ness, which  is  love,  and  decreases  his  joy  more  and  more. 
Even  so  a  drunkard,  whether  men  punish  him  for  drunk- 
enness or  not,  is  always  punished  by  his  drunkenness, — 
for  in  addition  to  his  headaches  and  woes  of  sobering  up, 
the  more  he  drinks,  the  more  his  body  and  soul  deteriorate. 

4.  If  people  imagine  that  in  this  life  they  can  be  free 
from  sin,  they  are  greatly  in  error.     Man  may  be  more 
or  less  sinful,  but  he  can  never  be  sinless.     A  living  man 
cannot  be  without  sin,  because  the  entire  life  of  man  con- 
sists in  ridding  himself  of  sin,  and  only  in  this  deliverance 
from  sin  is  the  true  blessedness  of  life. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  101 

III. 
Errors  and  Superstitions 

1.  Man's  business  in  life  is  to  fulfill  the  will  of  God. 
The  will  of  God  is  to  have  man  augment  love  in  his  soul 
and  to  manifest  it  in  the  world.    What  can  man  do  to  mani- 
fest love  within  himself?     Just  this  one  thing:  eliminate 
everything  from  within  that  may  hinder  its  manifestation. 
What  hinders  the  manifestation  of  love?     Sins  hinder  the 
manifestation  of  love. 

THus  only  one  thing  is  needful  for  man  to  fulfill  the 
will  of  God :  to  rid  himself  of  sins. 

2.  To  sin  is  human,  to  seek  excuses  for  sins  is  the 
work  of  the  devil. 

3.  While  a  human  being  has  no  reason,  he  lives  like 
an  animal,  and  whether  what  he  does  is  good  or  evil,  he  is 
blameless.     But  the  time  comes  when  he  acquires  the  ca- 
pacity of  judging  what  he  ought  and  what  he  ought  not  to 
do.    And  then  it  happens  that  instead  of  realizing  that  rea- 
son has  been  granted  him  to  recognize  the  things  which  he 
ought  and  which  he  ought  not  to  do,  he  uses  it  to  find 
excuses  for  the  evil  deeds  which  yield  him  pleasure,  and 
to  which  he  has  accustomed  himself. 

This  is  the  thing  that  leads  men  into  the  errors  and 
superstitions  from  which  the  world  suffers. 

4.  It  is  bad  for  a  man  to  think  that  he  is  without  sin 
and  does  not  need  to  labor  with  himself.     But  it  is  just 
as  bad  for  him  to  think  that  he  had  been  altogether  born 
in  sin  and  will  die  in  sins,  and  therefore,  there  is  no  need 
for  him  to  labor  with  himself.     Both  delusions  are  equally 
harmful. 

5.  It  is  bad  if  man  who  lives  among  sinful  men  fails  to 
see  his  own  sins  or  the  sins  of  others,  but  still  worse  is  the 


102  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

state  of  man  who  sees  sins  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
lives,  but  fails  to  perceive  his  own. 

6.  In  the  early  part  of  a  man's  life  the  body  alone  de- 
velops. And  he  considers  this  body  to  be  his  own  self.  Even 
when  the  consciousness  of  his  soul  awakens  within  him,  he 
continues  to  fulfill  the  desires  of  his  body,  which  are  con- 
trary to  the  desires  of  his  soul,  and  thereby  he  harms  him- 
self, falls  into  error  and  sin.     But  the  longer  he  lives,  the 
more  loudly  speaks  his  soul,  and  the  further  diverge  the 
desires  of  his  body  and  of  his  soul.     And  the  time  comes 
when  his  body  ages,  its  desires  grow  less  and  less,  but  the 
spiritual  "I"  grows  more  and  more  abundantly.     And  then 
the  men  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  serving  their  body, 
in  order  not  to  give  up  their  old  habit  of  life,  invent  errors 
and  superstitions  which  permit  them  to  keep  on  sinning. 
But  no  matter  how  much  men  try  to  protect  their  body 
from  their  spiritual  "I,"  the  latter  always  conquers,  though 
it  be  in  the  last  moments  of  life. 

7.  Each  mistake,  each  sin  committed  for  the  first  time, 
binds  you.     But  at  first  it  binds  as  lightly  as  a  cobweb. 
When  you  commit  the  sin  again  the  cobweb  becomes  a 
thread,  then  a  rope.     Constantly  repeated,  the  sin  binds 
you  with  strong  cords  and  later  with  chains. 

Sin  is  at  first  a  stranger  in  your  soul,  then  a  guest,  and 
when  you  have  made  a  habit  of  it,  it  becomes  the  master. 

8.  That  condition  of  soul  under  which  man  fails  to 
realize  the  evil  nature  of  his  deeds  prevails  when  man  in- 
stead of  employing  his  reason  to  examine  his  conduct  em- 
ploys it  to  excuse  his  acts  when  he  falls  into  errors  and  the 
superstitions  associated  therewith. 

9.  He  who  sins  for  the  first  time  always  feels  his  guilt. 
He  who  repeats  the  same  sin  many  times,  particularly  when 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  103 

people  all  around  him  commit  the  same  sins,  falls  into  error 
and  ceases  to  feel  his  sin. 

10.  Young  people  commencing  life  enter  upon  new  and 
unknown  paths,  and  find  on  each  side  unfamiliar  byways — 
smooth,  alluring,  pleasant.     When  they  swerve  into  these 
byways  at  first  they  seem  so  pleasant  to  walk  upon,  and  it 
looks  as  though  one  could  amble  along  upon  them  for  a 
long  distance  and  then  return  at  will  to  the  main  path,  but 
soon  they  learn  that  they  cannot  find  their  way  back  and 
they  stray  further  and  further  to  their  ruin. 

11.  When  a  man  has  committed  a  sin,  and  realizes  that 
he  has  sinned,  there  are  two  ways  open  to  him :  one  is  to 
acknowledge  his  sin  and  to  try  not  to  repeat  it,  the  other  to 
mistrust  his  conscience  and  to  inquire  what  people  think  of 
such  a  sin,  and  if  people  do  not  condemn  it,  to  continue  in 
this  sin,  without  realizing  his  sinfulncss.          , 

"They  all  do  it,  why  should  I  not  do  as  the  rest  of  the 
people  are  doing?" 

As  soon  as  a  man  has  entered  upon  this  well  beaten 
path,  he  will  fail  to  notice  how  far  he  has  strayed  from  the 
path  of  good  life. 

12.  Errors  and  superstitions  surround  man  on  all  sides. 
To  walk  amid  these  perils  is  like  walking  through  a  swamp, 
constantly  sinking  and  scrambling  to  safety. 

13.  "Errors  must  come  into  the  world,"  said  Christ.    I 
think  that  the  meaning  of  this  saying  is  that  the  recognition 
of  truth  is  not  in  itself  sufficient  to  turn  men  from  evil  and 
to  draw  them  towards  that  which  is  good.     In  order  that 
the  majority  of  people  apprehend  the  truth,  they  must  be 
brought,  because  of  errors  and  superstitions,  to  the  ultimate 
degree  of  delusion  and  of  suffering  resulting  from  delusion. 

14.  Sins  are  of  the  body,  errors  come  from  the  thoughts 
of  people,  and  superstition  from  the  distrust  of  one's  reason. 


104  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LITE 

15.  A  well  shod  man  carefully  avoids  mud,  but  once 
he  has  made  a  misstep  and  soiled  his  boots,  he  takes  less 
precautions,  and  when  he  sees  that  they  have  been  badly 
soiled,  he  boldly  walks  through  the  mud,  accumulating  more 
and  more  filth  with  each  step. 

Even  so  a  young  man,  while  yet  unstained  with  evil  and 
immoral  deeds,  is  careful  and  avoids  all  that  is  evil,  but 
after  making  a  mistake  or  two  he  begins  to  reason  that  no 
matter  how  careful  he  is,  he  is  bound  to  fall,  and  then  he 
takes  up  all  kinds  of  vices.  Do  not  follow  such  example. 
Have  you  defiled  yourself?  Purify  yourself,  and  be  doubly 
careful.  Have  you  sinned?  Repent,  and  avoid  sin  all  the 
more. 

16.  The  sins  of  the  body  subside  with  years,  but  errors 
and  superstitions,  on  the  contrary,  grow  stronger  with  years. 

IV. 

The  Principal  Task  of  a  Man's  Life  is  to  Rid  Himself  of 
Sins,  Errors  and  Superstitions 

1.  Man  rejoices  when  his  body  is  released  from  prison. 
How  should  he  not  rejoice  to  be  released  from  the  sins, 
errors  and  superstitions  which  have  held  captive  his  soul  ? 

2.  Imagine  men  living  their  animal  life  alone,  without 
combating  their  passions,  what  a  terrible  life  that  would  be, 
what  hatred  among  people,  what  dissoluteness,  what  cru- 
elty !     Only  the  fact  that  men  know  their  weaknesses  and 
passions  and  struggle  against  their  sins,  errors  and  super- 
stitions makes  it  possible  for  people  to  dwell  together. 

3.  The  human  body  confines  the  spirit  that  lives  in  it. 
But  the  spirit  breaks  through  and  becomes  more  and  more 
free.     Herein  is  life. 

4.  The  life  of  man,  whether  he  wills  it  or  not,  leads  him 
further  and  further  towards  deliverance  from  sins.     The 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  105 

man  who  realizes  this  assists  life  in  this  process  by  his  own 
efforts,  and  the  life  of  such  a  man  is  a  happy  one,  because 
it  is  in  accord  with  that  which  is  being  done  with  him. 

5.  Children  have  not  acquired  the  habit  of  sin,  there- 
fore, all  sin  is  repulsive  to  them.     Grown  up  people  have 
already  fallen  into  error,  and  they  sin  without  it. 

6.  If  man  does  not  acknowledge  his  sins,  he  is  like  unto 
a  tightly  corked  bottle;  for  he  cannot  receive  that  which 
would  deliver  him  from  sin.    To  humiliate  himself  and  to 
repent  is  to  uncork  the  vessel — to  become  capable  of  de- 
liverance from  sin. 

7.  To  repent  is  to  realize  your  sins  and  to  prepare  to 
combat  them,  therefore,  it  is  well  to  repent  while  you  have 
strength. 

Oil  must  be  added  to  a  lamp  while  it  is  yet  burning. 

8.  Two  women  came  to  an  hermit  for  advice.     One 
believed  herself  to  be  a  great  sinner.    While  young,  she  had 
been  unfaithful  to  her  husband,  and  she  never  ceased  to 
reproach  herself  because  of  it.    The  other  had  lived  all  her 
life  within  the  law,  found  no  sin  with  which  to  reproach 
herself  and  was  satisfied  with  herself. 

The  hermit  questioned  both  women  with  regard  to  their 
life.  One  confessed  her  great  sin  with  tears.  She  con- 
sidered that  sin  so  great  that  she  expected  no  forgiveness. 
The  other  said  that  she  did  not  know  any  special  sin  that 
she  might  have  been  guilty  of.  The  hermit  said  to  the  first 
woman : 

•'Go,  thou,  handmaid  of  God,  behind  the  wall  and  find 
me  a  large  stone,  as  large  as  you  can  lift,  and  bring  it  to 
me."  "And  thou,"  he  turned  to  the  other  woman,  "go  thou 
likewise  behind  the  wall  and  fetch  me  pebbles,  all  that  thou 
canst  carry." 

The  women  obeyed  the  commands.     One  brought  a 


106  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

large  stone,  and  the  other  a  bag  filled  with  pebbles.  There- 
upon the  hermit  said  further: 

"Now  I  will  tell  you  what  to  do.  Take  these  same 
stones  back  again  and  replace  them  where  you  had  taken 
them  from.  And  then  return  to  me  again." 

And  the  women  hurried  to  carry  out  his  command. 
The  first  woman  easily  found  the  place  where  she  had  taken 
the  heavy  stone  and  replaced  it  where  she  had  found  it.  But 
the  other  woman  could  not  by  any  means  surely  remember 
where  she  had  picked  up  the  various  pebbles,  and  unable  to 
carry  out  the  hermit's  command,  returned  to  him. 

"It  is  even  so  with  sins,"  said  the  hermit.  "Thou  didst 
return  the  heavy  stone  on  the  very  spot  from  which  thou 
hadst  taken  it,  because  thou  knowest  where  it  came  from. 
And  thou  wast  not  able  to  do  likewise,  because  thou  didst 
not  remember  whence  all  the  little  stones  had  been  taken. 
And  even  so  it  is  with  sins. 

"Thou  didst  remember  thy  sin,  bearing  the  reproaches 
of  men  and  the  pangs  of  thy  conscience,  thou  didst  humble 
thyself,  thus  delivering  thyself  from  thy  sin  and  its  con- 
sequences. 

"But  thou  (the  hermit  turned  to  the  other  woman), 
"sinning  in  a  small  way,  didst  not  remember  the  little  trans- 
gressions, didst  not  repent,  hast  grown  used  to  the  life  of 
sin,  and  condemning  the  sins  of  others,  didst  sink  even  more 
deeply  in  the  mire  of  thine  own  sins." 

9.  Man  is  born  in  sin.  All  sins  come  from  the  body, 
but  the  spirit  within  man  struggles  against  the  body.  And 
the  whole  life  of  man  is  a  struggle  of  the  spirit  against 
the  body.  Blessed  is  the  man  who  finds  himself  in  this 
struggle  not  on  the  side  of  the  body  (that  body  which  is 
bound  to  be  overcome),  but  on  the  side  of  the  spirit  which 
is  bound  to  conquer  though  it  be  in  the  last  mortal  hour. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  107 

10.  It  is  a  great  error  to  think  that  one  can  find  de- 
liverance from  sin  through   faith  and  the  forgiveness  of 
people. 

Nothing  can  absolve  from  sin.     One  can  only  realize 
his  sin  and  strive  not  to  repeat  it. 

11.  Never  be  scared  of  sin;  do  not  say  to  yourself: 
"I  can  not  help  sinning,  I  am  used  to  it,  I  am  weak."  While 
life  lasts,  you  can  always  fight  sin,  and  if  you  don't  con- 
quer it  to-day,  you  will  to-morrow ;  if  not  to-morrow,  then 
the  next  day ;  if  not  the  next  day,  surely  before  death.    But 
if  you  refuse  to  fight,  you  shirk  the  principal  task  of  life. 

12.  You  cannot  compel  yourself  to  love.    But  if  you 
do  not  love,  it  does  not  mean  that  there  is  no  love  in  you, 
but  that  there  is  something  in  you  that  hinders  love.    You 
may  turn  or  shake  a  bottle  as  you  will,  but  if  it  be  corked, 
nothing  can  be  poured  from  it  until  you  remove  the  cork. 
It  is  the  same  with  love.    Your  soul  is  filled  with  love,  but 
this  love  cannot  be  manifested,  because  your  sins  will  not 
let  it  pass.     Deliver  your  soul  from  that  which  chokes  it, 
and  you  will  love  everybody,  even  those  you  had  considered 
your  enemies,  and  whom  you  have  hated. 

13.  Woe  to  the  man  who  says  to  himself  that  he  has 
delivered  himself  from  sin. 

14.  That  is  sinless  wherein  there  is  no  consciousness 
of  oneness  with  God  and  with  all  Spirit  life.    Thus  plants 
and  animals  are  free  from  sin.     But  man  is  conscious  at 
the  same  time  of  animal  and  of  God  within,  and  therefore 
can  not  be  sinless.    We  call  children  sinless,  but  this  is  an 
error.     A  child  is  not  free  from  sin.     He  has  less  sins 
than  an  adult,  but  he  has  already  his  sins  of  the  body. 
Neither  is  the  saintliest  man  free  from  sin.     He  has  fewer 
sins,  than  others,  but  he  has  sins  nevertheless,  for  without 
sins  there  is  no  life. 


108  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

15.  In  order  to  train  yourself  to  combat  sin,  it  is  ad- 
visable from  time  to  time  to  stop  doing  the  things  to  which 
you  are  accustomed,  in  order  to  learn  whether  you  are 
master  of  your  body,  or  your  body  is  master  over  you. 

V. 

The  Significance  of  Sins,  Errors,  Superstitions  and  False 
Doctrines  for  the  Manifestation  of  Spiritual  Life 

1.  People  who  believe  that  God  created  the  world  fre- 
quently ask :  Why  did  God  so  create  man  that  he  must  sin, 
that  he  cannot  help  sinning?     It  is  like  asking  why  God 
created  mothers  so  that  they  must  bear  children  in  pain, 
nurse  them  and  bring  them  up.     Would  it  not  have  been 
simpler  for  God  to  give  infants  to  mothers  all  finished, 
without  pangs  of  child-birth,  without  nursing,  care  and  fear? 
No  mother  will  ask  this  question,  because  she  loves  the 
child  for  the  very  pain  it  cost  her,  and  the  joy  of  her  life 
is  in  nursing,  raising  and  caring  for  it. 

Even  so  with  human  life:  sins,  errors,  superstitions, 
the  struggle  with  them  and  the  overcoming  of  them, — there- 
in is  the  meaning  and  the  joy  of  human  life. 

2.  It  is  a  heavy  burden  to  man  to  know  about  his  sins, 
but  it  is  a  great  joy  to  feel  that  you  are  being  delivered 
from  them.     But  for  the  night,  we  should  not  rejoice  in 
the  light  of  the  sun.     But  for  sins,  man  would  not  know 
the  joy  of  righteousness. 

3.  If  man  had  no  soul,  he  would  not  know  the  sins  of 
the  body,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  sins  of  the  body,  he 
would  not  know  that  he  had  a  soul. 

4.  Since  man,  a   rational   creature,  has  been  in  this 
world,  he  has  distinguished  good  from  evil,  and  made  use 
of  the  experience  of  those  who  had  gone  before  in  distin- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  109 

guishing  good  from  evil,  struggling  against  evil,  seeking 
the  true,  good  path,  and  slowly,  but  resolutely  progressing 
upon  this  path.  And  ever  obstructing  this  path,  sins,  errors 
and  superstitions  confronted  the  people,  whispering  to  them 
that  all  this  is  superfluous,  that  there  is  no  need  to  seek 
anything,  that  they  are  as  well  off  without  it,  and  that  they 
should  live  just  as  they  happen  to  live. 

5.    Sins,  errors  and  superstitions  are  the  soil  that  must 
cover  the  seeds  of  love  that  they  may  spring  into  life. 


SURFEIT 


SURFEIT 

The  only  true  happiness  of  man  is  in  love.  But  man 
loses  this  happiness  when  instead  of  developing  the  love 
within  him  he  developes  the  appetites  of  his  body  by  humor- 
ing the  same. 

I. 

All  that  is  Superfluous  is  Harmful  to  the  Body 
and  to  the  Soul 

1.  The  body  must  be  served  only  when  it  demands  it. 
But  to  employ  one's  reason  in  inventing  pleasures  for  the 
body  is  to  live  inside  out:  forcing  the  soul  to  serve  the 
body,  instead  of  the  body  serving  the  soul. 

2.  The  less  needs  the  happier  is  the  life.    This  is  an 
old  truth,  but  one  which  is  far  from  having  been  accepted 
by  all. 

3.  The  more  you  accustom  yourself  to  luxury,  the 
more  you  fall  into  servitude,  because  the  more  things  you 
require,  the  more  you  curtail  your  freedom.    Perfect  free- 
dom is  in  needing  nothing  at  all,  and  next  to  it  is  needing 
very  little.  St.  John  Chrysostom. 

4.  There  are  sins  against  people,  and  sins  against  self. 
Sins  against  people  are  due  to  the  failure  to  respect  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  oneself. 

5.  If  you  would  live  the  life  of  peace  and  liberty,  learn 
not  to  crave  that  which  you  can  do  without. 

6.  All  that  the  body  needs  is  easily  obtained.    Only  the 
unnecessary  things  are  difficult  to  procure. 

7.  It  is  well  to  have  what  you  desire,  but  it  is  still 
better  not  to  desire  more  than  you  have.  Menedem. 


114  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

8.  If  you  are  well  and  have  labored  unto  weariness, 
your  bread  and  water  will  taste  sweeter  to  you  than  all  his 
dainties  to  a  rich  man,  your  bed  of  straw  will  feel  softer 
than  spring  mattresses,  and  working  clothes  will  caress  your 
body  more  smoothly  than  raiments  of  velvet  and  furs. 

9.  If  you  humor  your  body  too  much,  you  are  bound 
to  weaken  it,  if  you  overwork  it,  you  are  bound  to  weaken 
it.    But  if  you  must  choose  one  or  the  other,  it  is  better  to 
tire  it  than  to  enervate  it,  because  if  you  sleep  or  eat  in- 
sufficiently, or  if  you  overwork  yourself,  your  body  will 
soon  remind  you  of  your  error.     But  if  you  enervate  your 
body,  it  will  not  remind  you  of  your  error  at  once,  but  much 
later — through  weakness  and  sickness. 

10.  Socrates  abstained  from  all  foods  that  are  eaten 
not  to  appease  hunger,  but  mainly  because  of  their  flavor 
and  he  urged  his  disciples  to  do  likewise.    He  said  that  ex- 
cess of  food  and  drink  is  harmful  not  only  to  the  body, 
but  also  to  the  soul,  and  his  advice  was  to  leave  the  table 
while  the  desire  to  eat  is  still  present.     He  reminded  his 
disciples  of  Ulysses  of  old :    Circe,  the  enchantress,  failed 
to  bewitch  Ulysses  only  because  he  refused  to  overeat,  but 
as  soon  as  his  comrades  devoured  her  dainties,  she  turned 
them  into  swine. 

11.  It  seems  that  rich  and  well-informed  men,  men 
who  call  themselves  educated,  should  understand  that  there 
is  no  good  in  gluttony,  drunkenness  and  overdressing;  but 
they  are  just  the  people  who  invent  dainty  foods,  intoxicat- 
ing drinks  and  all  sorts  of  adornments,  and  in  addition  their 
example  ruins  and  corrupts  the  laboring  people. 

"If  educated  people  enjoy  luxurious  living,  it  must  be 
the  right  thing,"  say  the  laborers,  and  in  endeavoring  to 
imitate  the  rich,  they  ruin  their  own  life. 

12.  In  these  days  the  majority  of  the  people  think  that 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  115 

the  happiness  of  life  consists  in  serving  the  body.  It  is 
seen  from  the  fact  that  the  most  popular  doctrine  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  socialists.  According  to  this  doctrine,  the 
life  of  few  wants  is  the  life  of  the  beasts,  and  the  growth 
of  human  wants  is  the  first  mark  of  an  educated  man,  is 
tne  sign  of  his  consciousness  of  human  dignity.  Men  of 
our  day  so  strongly  adhere  to  this  doctrine  that  they  ridicule 
those  wise  men  who  see  the  happiness  of  man  in  the  dimi- 
nution of  human  needs. 

13.  Consider  how  the  slave  longs  to  live.  First  of  all 
he  yearns  to  be  set  at  liberty.  He  thinks  that  he  cannot 
be  free  or  happy  in  any  other  way.  He  says  to  himself: 
If  I  be  given  my  liberty,  I  shall  immediately  attain  happi- 
ness ;  I  shall  not  be  compelled  to  serve  and  humor  my  master, 
1  could  speak  to  any  man  as  an  equal,  I  could  go  where  I 
pleased  without  asking  any  man's  leave. 

But  no  sooner  is  he  given  his  freedom,  he  immediately 
seeks  to  curry  favor  with  somebody,  in  order  to  secure 
better  food.  He  is  ready  to  stoop  to  any  indignity  for  this 
purpose.  And  establishing  himself  near  some  prosperous 
man,  he  relapses  into  the  slavery  from  which  he  had  so 
recently  desired  to  escape. 

If  such  a  man  prospers,  he  takes  a  mistress,  and  enters 
a  state  of  still  more  arduous  servitude.  When  he  becomes 
wealthy,  he  has  still  less  liberty.  He  begins  to  suffer  and 
whine.  And  in  moments  when  he  feels  particularly  bur- 
dened, he  remembers  the  days  of  his  slavery  and  says: 

"After  all  I  was  not  so  badly  off  with  my  master.  I 
had  no  worries,  I  was  clad,  shod  and  fed ;  when  I  was  ill,  I 
was  taken  care  of.  And  my  service  was  not  so  hard.  And 
now  how  much  work  I  have  to  do.  Once  I  had  one  master, 
now  I  have  many.  How  many  people  must  I  please  now !" 

Epictctus. 


116  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

II. 

The  Whims  of  the  Body  are  Insatiable 

1.  To  sustain  the  life  of  the  body,  little  is  needed,  but 
the  whims  of  the  body  have  no  end. 

2.  The  needs  of  the  body,  of  one  body  alone  are  easily 
filled.     Only  in  the  case  of  a  special  calamity  man  lacks 
raiment  to  cover  his  body  or  a  piece  of  bread  to  appease 
his  hunger.     But  no  power  can  procure  all  the  things  that 
a  man  may  crave. 

3.  The  unreasoning  child  cries  and  weeps  until  it  is 
given  what  its  body  craves.    But  as  soon  as  it  is  given  what 
its  body  needs,  it  quiets  down  and  asks  no  more.     Not  so 
with  adults,  if  they  live  the  life  of  the  flesh  and  not  of  the 
spirit.    Such  men  never  quiet  down  and  always  want  some- 
thing more. 

4.  To  humor  the  flesh,  to  give  it  superfluous  things, 
things  in  excess  of  its  wants,  is  a  grievous  error,  because  a 
life  of  luxury  lessens  rather  than  increases  the  enjoyment 
derived  from  food,   recreation,  sleep,  raiment  and  home. 
If  you  eat  superfluous  dainties,  your  stomach  becomes  de- 
ranged, and  you  lose  the  craving  for  food  and  cannot  relish 
it.    If  you  ride  where  you  can  walk,  if  you  accustom  your- 
self to  soft  beds,  dainty,  highly  flavored  foods,  luxurious 
furnishings,  if  you  learn  to  compel  others  to  do  for  you 
what  you  can  do  yourself,  you  have  no  pleasure  in  resting 
after  labor,  in  warmth  after  being  chilled,  you  do  not  know 
sound  sleep,  and  you  weaken  yourself,  you  diminish,  in- 
stead of  increasing,  your  measure  of  happiness,  peace  and 
freedom. 

5.  Men  ought  to  learn  from  animals  how  to  treat  their 
body.    As  soon  as  the  animal  has  what  it  needs  for  its  body, 
it  is  at  peace.     But  man  is  not  satisfied  with  stilling  his 
hunger,  sheltering  himself  from  the  weather,  warming  him- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  117 

self;  he  invents  all  sorts  of  delicate  foods  and  beverages, 
he  builds  palaces,  prepares  superfluous  raiment,  and  all 
sorts  of  useless  luxuries,  and  in  the  end  lives  worse  instead 
of  better. 

III. 

The  Sin  of  Gluttony 

1.  If  men  ate  only  when  hungry,  and  then  only  simple, 
clean,  wholesome  food,  they  would  know  no  illness,  and 
they  could  resist  passions  more  easily. 

2.  The  wise  man  says:    Thank  God  because  He  has 
made  all  needful  things  easy,  and  all  superfluous  things 
difficult.    This  is  particularly  true  of  food.    Food  that  man 
requires  to  be  healthy  and  able  to  work  is  simple  and  cheap : 
bread,  fruit,  roots,  water.    All  of  this  is  found  ewerywhere. 
It  is  only  difficult  to  prepare  all  sorts  of  delicacies:  for 
instance  ice  cream,  etc. 

All  of  these  dainties  are  not  only  difficult  to  prepare, 
but  are  directly  harmful.  Therefore  it  is  not  for  those 
healthy  men  who  eat  bread  and  water  and  porridge  to  envy 
the  ailing  rich  with  their  cunningly  prepared  delicacies,  but 
for  rich  men  to  envy  the  poor  and  to  learn  to  eat  as  they  do. 

3.  Few  die  from  hunger.    Many  more  die  because  they 
eat  too  daintily  and  do  not  labor. 

4.  Eat  to  live,  do  not  live  to  eat. 

5.  "Only  a  pot  of  broth,  but  plenty  of  health."    That's 
a  good  proverb.    Go  by  it. 

6.  If  it  were  not  for  greed  not  a  bird  would  be  snared 
in  a  fowler's  net,  and  the  fowler  would  catch  no  birds.    The 
same  snare  is  laid  for  men.     The  belly  is  a  chain  for  the 
hands  and  the  feet.    The  slave  of  the  belly  is  always  a  slave. 
If  you  would  be  free,  first  of  all  shake  off  the  dominion 
of  the  belly.    Fight  against  it.    Eat  only  to  appease  hunger, 
and  not  to  derive  pleasure  from  it. 


118  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

7.  What  is  more  profitable :  to  spend  four  hours 
weekly  on  the  making  of  bread,  and  to  feed  on  it  the  rest 
of  the  week,  or  to  spend  twenty-one  hours  each  week  on 
the  preparation  of  dainty  and  tasty  foods.  What  is  more 
precious :  the  seventeen  hours  gained  or  dainty  food  ? 

IV. 

The  Sin  of  Eating  Meat 

1.  The   Greek   philosopher   Pythagoras  ate   no  meat. 
When  the  historian  Plutarch,  the  biographer  of  Pythagoras, 
was  asked  why  Pythagoras  had  abstained  from  eating  meat 
he  replied  that  he  did  not  wonder  at  Pythagoras  abstaining 
from  eating  meat,  but  he  did  wonder  that  there  were  still 
people  left  who  though  they  might  feed  on  grains,  herbs 
and  fruit,  persisted  in  capturing,  butchering  and  eating  liv- 
ing creatures. 

2.  In  the  oldest  days  philosophers  taught  the  people 
not  to  eat  the  flesh  of  animals,  but  to  feed  on  herbs ;  the 
people,  however,  paid  no  attention  to  the  sages  and  per- 
sisted in  eating  meat.     But  in  our  times  the  number  of 
people  who  consider  it  sinful  to  eat  meat,  and  abstain  from 
eating  it,  is  rapidly  increasing. 

We  are  surprised  to  find  people  eating  the  flesh  of 
slain  humans,  and  to  hear  that  there  are  still  such  cannibals 
left  in  Africa.  The  time  will  come  when  we  shall  wonder 
that  men  could  slay  animals  for  food. 

3.  For  ten  years  the  cow  has  fed  thee  and  thy  children, 
the  sheep  has  warmed  thee  with  its  wool.     What  is  their 
reward?    To  have  their  throats  cut  and  to  be  devoured. 

4.  Thou  shalt  not  kill — does  not  apply  only  to  the 
killing  of  human  beings,  but  also  to  the  killing  of  any  living 
creature.     This  commandment  was  inscribed  in  the  hearts 
of  men  before  it  was  graven  on  the  tablets  on  Mount  Sinai. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  119 

5.  Compassion  with  animals  is  so  closely  associated 
with  goodness  of  character  that  it  may  be  confidently  af- 
firmed that  whoever  is  cruel  to  animals  cannot  be  a  good 
man.  Schopenhauer. 

6.  Do  not  lift  your  arm  against  your  brother,  nor  shed 
the   blood   of   any   other   creatures   inhabiting   the   earth, 
whether  they  be  men  or  domestic  animals,  beasts  or  birds 
of  the  air;  in  the  depths  of  your  soul  a  still  voice  forbids 
you  to  shed  it,  for  the  blood  is  the  life,  and  you  cannot 
recall  life.  Lamartine. 

7.  The  happiness  which  man  derives  from  feelings  of 
compassion  and  mercy  towards  animals  will  make  up   a 
hundredfold  for  the  pleasure  lost  through  abstinence  from 
the  chase  and  from  the  use  of  the  flesh  of  animals. 

V. 

The  Sin  of  Drugging  Oneself  with'  Wine, 
Tobacco,  Opium,  etc. 

1.  In  order  to  live  right,  man  needs  before  all  the 
exercise  of  his  reason,  and  therefore  he  should  value  his 
reason  most  highly,  yet  men  find  pleasure  in  dulling  their 
reason  with  tobacco,  wine,  whiskey,  opium.     Why?     Be- 
cause men  desire  to  lead  an  evil  life,  and  their  reason,  when 
it  is  not  dulled,  shows  them  the  wickedness  of  their  life. 

2.  If  wine,  tobacco  and  opium  did  not  dull  the  reason, 
and  thereby  did  not  give  free  reign  to  evil  desires,  no  one 
would  drink  bitter  beverages  or  inhale  fumes. 

3.  Why  do  different  people  have  different  habits,  but 
the  habits  of  smoking  and  drunkenness  are  the  same  in  all 
men,  poor  or  rich?    It  is  because  the  majority  of  men  are 
discontented  with  their  life,  and  seek  the  pleasures  of  the 


120  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

flesh.     But  the  flesh  can  never  be  satisfied,  and  men,  both 
poor  and  rich,  seek  oblivion  in  smoking  or  drunkenness. 

4.  A  man  is  proceeding  at  night  with  the  aid  of  a 
lantern,  and  he  is  barely  making  headway,  he  strays  and 
recovers  the  road.     But  suddenly  he  grows  weary  of  it, 
blows  out  the  lantern  and  strays  at  haphazard. 

Is  it  not  the  same  when  man  drugs  himself  with  to- 
bacco, wine  or  opium?  It  is  difficult  to  determine  your 
path  in  life,  so  as  not  to  stray,  and  to  find  it  again,  if  per- 
chance you  have  wandered  away  from  it.  And  yet  people, 
to  avoid  the  trouble  of  following  the  true  path,  extinguish 
the  only  light  that  they  have,  their  reason,  by  smoking  and 
drinking. 

5.  When  a  man  overeats,  he  finds  it  hard  to  fight 
against  laziness,  when  he  imbibes  intoxicating  drinks,  he 
finds  it  hard  to  be  chaste. 

6.  Wine,  opium  and  tobacco,  are  unnecessary  to  the 
life  of  man.    Every  one  knows  that  wine,  tobacco  and  opium 
are  injurious  to  the  body  and  to  the  soul.     Yet  the  labor 
of  millions  of  people  is  wasted  to  produce  these  poisons. 
Why  do  people  do  this  ?    Because  having  fallen  into  the  sin 
of  serving  their  flesh,  and  seeing  that  the  flesh  can  never 
be  satisfied,  they  have  invented  such  substances  as  wine, 
tobacco  and  opium  that  stupefy  them  into  forgetting  that 
they  lack  the  things  they  would  have. 

7.  If  a  man  has  set  his  life  upon  carnal  pleasures,  and 
cannot  attain  all  that  he  desires,  he  endeavores  to  delude 
himself:  he  wishes  to  place  himself  into  the  position  of 
imagining  that  he  has  that  which  he  craves  for ;  he  stupefies 
himself  with  tobacco,  wine  and  opium. 

8.  Drinking  or  smoking  has  never  inspired  anyone  to 
good  deeds :  labor,  meditation,  visiting  the  sick,  prayer.    But 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  121 

the  majority  of  wicked  deeds  are  committed  under  the  in- 
fluence of  drink. 

Self-stupefaction  through  drugs  is  not  in  itself  a  crime, 
but  it  is  a  preparation  for  all  sorts  of  crimes. 

9.  The  trinity  of  curse :  drunkenness,  meat  eating  and 
smoking. 

10.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  what  a  happy  change  would 
come  into  our  lives,  if  men  ceased  to  stupefy  and  poison 
themselves  with  whiskey,  wine,  tobacco  and  opium. 

VI. 

Serving  the  Flesh  is  Injurious  to  the  Soul 

1.  If  one  man  has  much  that  is  superfluous,  many 
others  lack  necesaries. 

2.  It  is  better  that  the  raiment  befit  the  conscience 
than  fit  the  body  only. 

3.  In  order  to  pamper  the  flesh,  one  must  neglect  his 
soul. 

4.  Of  two  men  which  is  better  off:   he  who  nourishes 
himself  with  his  own  labor,  merely  to  preserve  himself  from 
being  hungry,  clothes  himself,  merely  to  avoid  being  bare, 
houses  himself  merely  to  shelter  himself  from  the  rain  and 
the  cold,  or  he  who  through  flunkeying,  or  what  is  more 
usual,  through  craftiness  or  force,  obtains  delicate  foods, 
rich  raiment  and  luxurious  habitations? 

5.  It  is  inexpedient  to  accustom  yourself  to  luxury, 
for  the  more  things  you  need  for  your  body,  the  more  you 
will  have  to  labor  with  your  body,  in  order  better  to  feed 
it,  clothe  it  and  house  it.    This  is  an  error  which  only  those 
men  fail  to  perceive  who  by  some  fraud  have  arranged  it 
so  that  others  labor  for  them  instead  of  laboring  for  them- 
selves, so  that  in  the  case  of  the  rich  this  is  not  merely  inex- 
pedient, but  also  a  great  wrong. 


122  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

6.  If  we  people  had  not  invented  luxurious  dwellings, 
apparel  and  food,  all  those  who  are  now  in  need  could  live 
without  want,  and  those  who  are  rich  without  fear  for  them- 
selves or  their  riches. 

7.  Just  as  the  first  rule  of  wisdom  is  to  know  oneself, 
because  only  he  who  knows  himself  can  also  know  others, 
so  is  the  first  rule  of  mercy  to  be  content  with  little,  be- 
cause only  he  who  is  content  with  little  can  be  merciful. 

Ruskin. 

8.  To  live  for  one's  body  only  is  to  do  like  the  servant 
who  took  his  master's  money,  and  instead  of  buying  there- 
with things  required  for  his  own  needs,  as  his  master  had 
commanded,  wasted  it  upon  the  gratification  of  his  foolish 
whims. 

God  gave  us  His  spirit  so  that  we  may  do  the  works 
of  God  and  for  our  own  good.  But  we  waste  this  spiiit 
upon  the  service  of  our  body.  Thus  we  both  fail  to  do  the 
works  of  God  and  injure  our  own  self. 

9.  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  man  to  indulge  his  lusts, 
but  expedient  always  to  fight  against  them,  may  be  deter- 
mined by  any  one  by  own  experience,  for  the  more  a  man 
indulges  the  demands  of  his  body,  the  feebler  become  his 
spiritual  forces.     And  vice  versa.     Great  philosophers  and 
saints  have  been  always  abstemious  and  chaste. 

10.  Just  as  the  smoke  expels  the  bees  from  the  hive, 
gluttony  and  drunkenness  drive  away  all  the  finest  spiritual 
forces.  Basil  the  Great. 

11.  What  does  it  matter  if  the  body  suffer  a  little  from 
serving  the  spirit?  but  woe  if  the  most  precious  thing  in 
man — his  soul — suffer  from  the  passions  of  the  body. 

12.  Do  not  destroy  your  heart  by  excess  of  food  and 
drink.  Mohammed. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  123 

13.  "Where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be 
also,"  is  said  in  the  New  Testament.  If  a  man  consider  his 
body  his  treasure,  he  will  employ  all  his  powers  to  provide 
it  with  dainty  foods,  pleasant  accommodations,  fine  apparel 
and  all  sorts  of  amusements.  And  the  more  strength  a  man 
expends  upon  the  service  of  his  body,  the  less  he  will  have 
left  for  his  spiritual  life. 

VII. 

He  Alone  is  Free,  Who  is  Master  of  the  Desires 
of  His  Body 

1.  If  a  man  live  for  his  body,  and  not  for  his  soul, 
he  is  like  some  bird  that  conceives  the  notion  of  walking 
from  place  to  place  on  its  feeble  feet  instead  of  freely  flying 
wherever  it  pleased  by  using  its  wings.  Socrates. 

2.  Dainty  foods,  rich  apparel,  luxuries  of  all  sorts — 
this  is  what  you  call  happiness.     But  I  think  that  to  desire 
nothing  is  the  greatest  happiness,  and  in  order  to  approach 
this  highest  degree  of  happiness,  you  must  train  yourself  to 
want  little.  Socrates. 

3.  The  less  you  indulge  the  body  in  matters  of  food, 
clothing,  housing  and  amusement,  the  freer  will  be  your 
life.     And  on  the  contrary,  no  sooner  you  begin  to  try  to 
improve  your  food,  clothing,  housing  and  amusement, — there 
is  no  longer  a  limit  to  your  labors  and  cares. 

4.  It  is  better  to  be  poor  than  rich,  because  the  rich 
are  more  bound  up  in  sin  than  the  poor.    And  the  sins  of 
the  rich  are  more  perplexing  and  entangled,  and  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  make  head  or  tail  of  them.    The  sins  of  the  poor  are 
simple,  and  it  is  easier  to  be  rid  of  them. 

5.  No  one  has  ever  regretted  to  have  lived  too  plainly. 


124  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

6.  The  rich  are  so  used  to  the  sin  of  serving  the  body 
that  they  fail  to  see  it  as  sin,  and  believing  that  what  they 
do  is  for  the  best  interest  of  their  children,  they  train  them 
from  infancy  in  the  ways  of  gluttony,  luxury  and  sloth- 
fulness,  in  other  words  they  corrupt  them  and  store  up  great 
suffering  for  them. 

7.  What  happens  with  the  stomach  when  you  overeat, 
occurs  also  in  matters  of  amusement.     The  more  men  try 
to  increase  the  pleasure  of  eating  by  inventing  refined  foods, 
the  more  is  the  stomach  enfeebled  and  the  pleasure  of  eat- 
ing curtailed.     The  more  men  try  to  increase  the  pleasure 
of  merrymaking  by  inventing  elegant  and  subtle   amuse- 
ments  the   more    surely   they   weaken   their   capacity    for 
genuine  enjoyment. 

8.  Only  the  body  can  suffer;  the  spirit  knows  no  suf- 
fering.    The  feebler  is  the  life  of  the  spirit,  the  greater  is 
the  suffering.    So  if  you  would  not  suffer,  live  more  in  the 
spirit  and  less  for  your  body. 


SEXUAL  LUSTS 


SEXUAL  LUSTS 

In  all  people,  men  and  women  alike,  dwells  the  Spirit 
of  God.  What  a  sin  it  is  to  look  upon  the  temple  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  as  upon  a  means  of  gratification  of  desire. 
Every  woman  in  relation  to  man  should  be  first  of  all  a 
sister,  and  every  man  to  a  woman  a  brother. 


The  Need  of  Striving  After  Absolute  Chastity 

1.  It  is  well  to  live  in  honorable  matrimony,  but  it  is 
better  never  to  marry.    Few  people  can  do  this.    But  happy 
are  they  who  can. 

2.  When  people  marry,  if  they  can  do  without  marry- 
ing, they  act  like  a  man  who  falls  without  having  stumbled. 
If  he  stumbled  and  then  fell,  he  could  not  help  himself,  but 
if  he  had  not  stumbled,  why  fall  on  purpose?    If  you  can 
live  chastely,  without  committing  sin,  it  is  better  not  to 
marry. 

3.  It  is  untrue  that  chastity  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of 
man.    Chastity  is  possible  and  yields  much  more  happiness 
than  even  a  happy  marriage. 

4.  Excess  of  food  is  ruinous  to  good  life,  but  sexual 
excesses  are  still  more  ruinous  to  good  living.    And  there- 
fore, the  less  a  man  yields  to  the  one  and  to  the  other,  the 
better  it  is  for  his  true  spiritual  life.     But  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  two.     In  giving  up  food  altogether 
man  destroys  his  life,  but  in  abstaining  from  sexual  gratifi- 
cation, man  does  not  cut  short  his  life,  nor  destroy  his  spe- 
cies which  does  not  depend  upon  him  alone. 

5.  He  that  is  unmarried  careth  for  the  things  that  be- 
long to  the  Lord,  how  he  may  please  the  Lord : 


128  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

But  he  that  is  married  careth  for  the  things  that  are  of 
the  world,  how  he  may  please  his  wife. 

There  is  a  difference  also  between  a  wife  and  a  virgin. 
The  unmarried  woman  careth  for  the  things  of  the  Lord, 
that  she  may  be  holy  both  in  body  and  in  spirit ;  but  she  that 
is  married  careth  for  the  things  of  the  world,  how  she  may 
please  her  husband.  1  Cor.,  vii,  32-34. 

6.  If  men  marry  and  think  that  they  thereby  serve  God 
and  man,  because  they  propagate  the  human  species,  they 
deceive  themselves.     Instead  of  marrying  in  order  to  in- 
crease of  the  number  of  children  in  the  world,  it  would  be 
far  simpler  to  sustain  and  save  those  millions  of  young  lives 
which  are  perishing  from  want  and  neglect. 

7.  Although  few  people  may  be  absoltuely  chaste,  let 
every  one  realize  and  remember  that  any  man  can  be  more 
chaste  than  he  has  been,  and  can  resume  chastity  once  vio- 
lated, and  the  more  nearly  he  approaches  to  absolute  chas- 
tity, the  more  nearly  he  will  attain  the  state  of  true  blessed- 
ness, and  the  better  he  will  be  able  to  serve  the  welfare 
of  his  fellow-man. 

7.  Some  say  that  if  all  were  chaste  the  human  species 
would  cease  to  exist.    But  does  not  the  church  teach  that 
the  end  of  the  world  is  bound  to  come  ?  And  science  equally 
shows  that  some  day  man's  life  upon  earth,  and  earth  itself, 
must  cease;  why  then  does  the  idea  that  the  end  of  the 
human  species  might  come  as  the  result  of  good  and  right- 
eous living  arouse  so  much  indignation? 

8.  One  scientist  figured  out  that  if  mankind  should 
double  itself  once  every  fifty  years,  in  seven  thousand  years 
so  many  descendants  would  spring  even  from  one  pair  of 
parents  that  only  one  twenty-seventh  part  of  them  would 
find  space  on  the  globe  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  129 

To  avoid  this,  one  thing  alone  is  needful,  and  it  is  af- 
firmed by  all  wise  teachers,  as  well  as  implanted  in  the 
heart  of  man,  chastity,  striving  after  more  and  more  chastity. 

10.  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old 
time,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery : 

But  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever  looketh  on  a 
woman  to  lust  after  her  hath  committed  adultery  with  her 
already  in  his  heart.  Matthew,  r,  27-28. 

These  words  can  mean  nothing  else  but  that  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  demands  from  man  that  he  strive  after  ob- 
solute  chastity. 

"But  how  can  this  be?"  some  may  reply.  "If  you 
cling  to  absolute  chastity,  mankind  will  cease  to  exist."  But 
men  who  speak  thus  do  not  consider  that  pointing  to  per- 
fection as  a  goal  towards  which  we  must  strive,  does  not 
mean  that  we  shall  reach  perfection.  It  is  not  given  to  man 
to  attain  perfection  in  anything.  The  destiny  of  man  is  in 
striving  after  perfection. 

II. 
The  Sin  of  Adultery 

1.  An  unspoilt  man  is  disgusted  and  ashamed  to  think 
or  speak  of  sexual  relations.    Preserve  this  feeling.    It  has 
not  been  put  in  the  heart  of  man  without  cause.    This  feel- 
ing helps  man  to  abstain  from  the  sin  of  adultery  and  to 
maintain  his  chastity. 

2.  People  use  the  same  expression  when  referring  to 
the  spiritual  love — the  love  of  God  and  of  fellow-man,  as 
they  do  referring  to  the  carnal  love  of  a  man  for  a  woman. 
This  is  a  grievous  error.    There  is  nothing  in  common  be- 


130  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tween  the  two.  The  first,  the  spiritual  love  of  God  and  of 
fellow-man,  is  the  voice  of  God,  the  second — the  love  be- 
tween man  and  woman,  is  the  voice  of  the  animal. 

3.  The  law  of  God  is  to  love  God  and  your  neighbor, 
that  is  everybody  without  distinction.  In  sexual  love  man 
loves  an  individual  woman  above  all  others,  and  the  woman 
an  individual  man,  and  therefore  sexual  love  more  than 
anything  else  turns  man  from  obeying  the  law  of  God. 

III. 
Misery  Caused  by  Sexual  Dissoluteness 

1.  Until  you  have  destroyed  to  its  very  roots  your  lust- 
ful attachment  to  a  woman,  your  spirit  will  always  be  tied 
to  the  earthly  things  as  the  suckling  calf  is  bound  to  his 
mother. 

Men  caught  in  the  meshes  of  desire  struggle  like  a  hare 
in  a  trap.  Once  enmeshed  in  lustful  passion,  they  will  not 
free  themselves  from  suffering  for  a  long  time. 

Buddhist  Wisdom. 

2.  A  moth  rushes  to  the  flame  because  it  does  not  real- 
ize that  it  will  burn  its  wings;  a  fish  swallows  the  worm 
because  it  does  not  know  that  it  means  its  ruin.     But  we 
know  that  lustful  passions  will  surely  entrap  and  ruin  us, 
and  still  we  yield  to  them. 

3.  As  the  fireflies  over  a  swamp  lead  men  astray  into 
mire,  and  are  lost  to  view  themselves,  even  so  the  delights 
of  sexual  gratification  delude  the  people.     Men  go  astray, 
their  lives  are  ruined,  and  when  they  come  to  their  senses 
and  look  around,  that  which  has  ruined  their  lives  is  no 
longer  there.  Schopenhauer. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  131 

IV. 

Criminal  Attitude  of  Our  Leading  Men  to  the 
Sin  of  Lust 

1.  In  order  to  realize  fully  the  immortality,  the  anti- 
Christian  character  of  the  life  of  Christian  people,  one  need 
only  remember  that  the  status  of  women  living  by  vice  is 
everywhere  sanctioned  and  regulated. 

2.  Among  rich  men  there  exists  a  false  belief,  fostered 
by  a  false  science,  to  the  effect  that  sexual  intercourse  is  a 
condition  necessary  to  health,  and  as  matrimony  is  not  al- 
ways possible,  sexual  intercourse  without  marriage,  placing 
no  obligation  on  man  besides  payment  of  money,  is  some- 
thing absolutely  natural.    This  conviction  is  so  wide-spread 
and  firm  that  parents  on  the  advice  of  physicians  lead  their 
children  into  vice;  and  institutions  whose  only  reason  for 
existence  is  to  care  for  the  welfare  of  citizens,  permit  the 
maintenance  of  a  caste  of  women  whose  bodies  and  souls 
must  be  ruined  for  the  gratification  of  dissolute  males. 

3.  To  argue  whether  it  be  good  or  evil  for  the  health 
of  a  man  to  have  sexual  intercourse  with  women,  without 
living  with  them  as  man  and  wife,  is  like  arguing  whether 
it  be  good  or  evil  for  the  health  of  man  to  drink  the  blood 
of  other  human  beings. 

V. 

Fighting  the  Sin  of  Lustfulness 

1.  As  an  animal  man  must  fight  with  other  creatures 
and  multiply  in  order  to  increase  his  species ;  but  as  a  crea- 
ture endowed  with  love  and  reason  man  must  not  fight  with 
other  creatures,  but  love  them  all,  and  must  not  multiply, 
in  order  to  increase  his  species,  but  be  chaste.  The  combi- 
nation of  these  two  opposite  inclinations, — the  striving  to 


132  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

fight  for  sexual  gratification,  and  the  striving  after  love  and 
chastity, — fashions  the  life  of  man  as  it  should  be  lived. 

2.  What  must  a  pure  youth  and  a  pure  maiden  do  when 
their  sexual  feelings  are  awakened?      What  should  guide 
them?     They  must  keep  themselves  pure  and  strive  more 
and  more  after  chastity  in  thought  and  desire. 

What  must  a  youth  and  a  maiden  do  who  have  become 
subject  to  temptation  and  are  engrossed  with  thoughts  of 
love  whether  indefinite  or  directed  to  an  individual  person? 

The  same.  They  must  not  permit  themselves  to  fall, 
knowing  that  submitting  to  temptation  will  not  set  them 
free  from  it,  but  will  augment  it,  and  they  must  still  strive 
more  and  more  after  chastity. 

What  must  people  do  when  the  struggle  proves  too 
much  for  them  and  they  fall? 

They  must  not  look  upon  their  fall  as  upon  a  lawful 
pleasure,  as  is  done  now  when  it  is  sanctioned  in  marriage, 
nor  as  an  act  of  occasional  gratification  which  may  be 
repeated  with  others,  nor  yet  as  a  calamity  (in  the  case  of 
unequal  partners  and  unsanctioned  by  ceremonial),  but  they 
must  look  upon  this  first  fall  as  the  initiation  of  an  indis- 
soluble marriage. 

What  must  a  man  and  a  woman  do  who  have  entered 
matrimony  ? 

Still  the  same:  they  must  together  strive  to  free  them- 
selves from  sexual  lusts. 

3.  The  principal  weapon  in  combating  lust  is  the  man's 
realization  of  his  spirituality.    A  man  must  only  remember 
what  he  is  in  order  to  see  sexual  lust  for  what  it  is:  a 
degrading  animal  characteristic. 

4.  Fighting  the  lust  of  sex  is  imperative.     But  you 
must  know  in  advance  the  full  strength  of  the  enemy  with- 
out beguiling  yourself  with  false  hopes  of  a  speedy  triumph. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  133 

The  fight  against  this  foe  is  bound  to  be  hard.  Yet  do  not 
lose  courage.  Let  there  be  falls  but  do  not  lose  courage. 
The  child  learning  to  walk  falls  a  hundred  times,  is  hurt, 
weeps  and  rises  to  its  feet  only  to  fall  again,  but  in  the 
end  he  learns  to  walk.  It  is  not  the  fall  that  is  terrible,  it 
is  the  attempt  to  excuse  the  fall.  Terrible  is  that  falsehood 
which  attempts  to  prove  these  falls  to  be  something  neces- 
sary, inevitable,  or  something  beautiful  and  lofty.  What 
if  on  the  way  to  freedom  from  defilement,  to  perfection,  we 
fall  because  of  weakness  and  stray  from  the  path,  let  us 
still  endeavor  to  follow  this  path.  Do  not  let  us  say  that 
the  defilement  is  our  fate,  do  not  let  us  philosophize  or  burst 
into  poetry  in  self-justification,  let  us  firmly  remember 
that  evil  is  evil,  and  that  we  will  not  commit  it. 

Nazhivin. 

5.  Struggling  against  sexual  lusts  is  the  most  difficult 
of  all  combats;  there  is  no  age  or  condition,  infancy  and 
hoary  age  alone  excepted,  when  man  is  free  from  it.    And 
the  adult  man  and  woman  who  have  not  reached  senility 
must  be  always  on  guard  against  the  foe  who  is  merely 
awaiting  a  favorable  opportunity  for  an  attack. 

6.  All  passions  are  born  of  thought  and  are  sustained 
by  it.    But  no  passion  is  sustained  and  nourished  by  thought 
so  much  as  lust.    Do  not  dwell  on  lustful  thoughts,  but  re- 
pel them. 

7.  Even  as  in  eating  man  must  learn  abstinence  from 
animals,  who  eat  only  when  hungry,  and  stop  when  satisfied, 
so  men  must  learn  from  animals  in  sexual  matters :  to  re- 
frain from  sexual  intercourse  until  attaining  full  maturity 
as  the  animals  do,  to  engage  in  it  only  when  irresistibly 
drawn,  and  to  abstain  as  soon  as  the  foetus  is  formed. 

8.  One  of  the  surest  signs  that  a  man  truly  means  to 


134  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

lead  an  upright  life  is  a  man's  austerity  with  himself  in 
sexual  life. 

VI. 

Matrimony 

1.  It  is  good  for  a  man  not  to  touch  a  woman. 
Nevertheless  to  avoid  fornication,  let  every  man  have 

his  own  wife,  and  let  every  woman  have  her  own  husband. 

/.  Cor.,  vii,  1-2. 

2.  The  Christian  doctrine  does  not  set  down  hard  and 
fast  rules  for  all.    It  merely  points  to  that  perfection  after 
which  we  must  strive.     It  is  the  same  in  sexual  matters. 
Perfection  is  absolute  chastity.    And  every  degree  of  striv- 
ing by  personal  effort,  to  approach  perfection  is  a  greater 
or  lesser  degree  of  obeying  the  doctrine. 

3.  Marriage  is  the  promise  of  two  persons,  a  man  and 
a  woman,  to  have  children  only  one  from  the  other.    Either 
of  the  two  failing  to  carry  out  this  promise,  commits  a  sin 
which  falls  back  most  harshly  upon  the  sinning  one. 

4.  In  order  to  attain  a  goal  one  must  aim  beyond  it. 
And  to  make  a  marriage  indissoluble,  to  have  both  partners 
remain  faithful  one  to  the  other,  it  is  necessary  for  both 
to  aim  at  chastity. 

5.  It  is  a  grievous  error  to  think  that  the  marriage  cere- 
mony performed  on  two  persons  releases  the  contracting 
parties  from  the  necessity  of  sexual  abstinence  with  the 
object  of  attaining  even  in  the  marriage  union  an  ever  in- 
creasing degree  of  chastity. 

6.  If  man,  as  is  the  custom  with  us,  sees  in  sexual 
intercourse,  though  it  be  sanctioned  by  marriage,  a  means 
of  gratification,  he  will  inevitably  lapse  into  vice. 

7.  The  essence  of  a  true  and  valid  marriage  is  to  live 
together,  so  that  children  may  be  brought  into  the  world. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  135 

External  ceremonies,  declarations  or  agreements  do  not 
constitute  marriage,  but  are  used  by  many  in  order  to  rec- 
ognize as  marriage  only  one  out  of  many  forms  of  living 
together. 

8.  The  true  Chilstian  doctrine  having  no  basis   for 
the  institution  of  matrimony,  the  people  of  our  Christian 
world  feel  that  this  institution  is  not  founded  on  any  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  and  remaining  blind  to  Christ's  ideal  of  abso- 
lute chastity  (which  the  prevailing  teachings  ignore),  they 
are  absolutely  without  any  guidance  on  the  subject  of  mat- 
rimony.    This   accounts    for   the   otherwise  very   strange 
phenomenon  that  races  with  religious  beliefs  on  a  far  lower 
level  than  Christianity,  having  no  exact  external  definitions 
of  marriage,  present  family  principles  and  marital  fidelity 
of  a  much  more  stable  order  than  the  so-called  Christian 
nations.     Races  with  religious  beliefs  inferior  to  Christian- 
ity have  well  defined  systems  of  concubinage  or  polygamy, 
and  within  certain  bounds  also  polyandry,  but  they  lack 
that  utter  dissoluteness  manifesting  itself  in  the  concubin- 
age, polygamy  and  polyandry  which  prevail  among  Chris- 
tians and  are  hidden  under  the  mask  of  a  fictitious  mon- 
ogamy. 

9.  If  a  purpose  of  a  meal  is  to  feed  the  body,  he 
who  eats  two  meals  at  once,  may  attain  more  pleasure,  but 
will  fall  short  of  his  purpose,  for  the  stomach  will  not 
digest  both  meals.    If  the  purpose  of  marriage  is  the  fam- 
ily, he  who  desires  more  than  one  wife,  or  she  who  desires 
more  than  one  husband,  may  obtain  more  gratification,  but 
will  fall  short  of  the  principal  pleasure  justifying  matri- 
mony— namely  family  life.     To  feed  well  and  to  purpose, 
man  must  not  eat  more  than  he  can  digest.    A  good  mar- 
riage, if  it  is  to  attain  its  purpose,  can  only  be  when  the 
man  has  no  more  wives,  and  the  woman  has  no  more  hus- 


136  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

bands  than  they  need  for  the  proper  education  of  their 
children,  which  means  only  when  the  husband  has  one  wife, 
and  the  wife  one  husband. 

10.  Christ  was  asked:    Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  leave 
one  wife  and  take  another?    And  he  said  that  this  ought 
not  to  be,  that  a  man  and  a  woman  in  marriage  should  be 
so  joined  that  the  twain  be  one  body.     And  that  this  was 
the  law  of  God,  and  that  what  God  has  joined  together, 
no  man  should  put  asunder. 

But  the  disciples  asserted  that  it  was  hard  thus  to  live 
with  a  wife.  And  Jesus  told  them  that  man  need  not  marry, 
but  if  he  did  not  marry  he  must  live  a  pure  life. 

11.  In  order  to  make  marriage  rational  and  moral,  the 
following  is  needful : 

First,  it  must  not  be  thought,  as  is  done  now,  that 
every  human  being,  male  and  female,  must  marry  without 
fail,  but  on  the  contrary  every  human  being,  man  and 
woman,  must  endeavor  to  preserve  their  purity  to  the  best 
of  their  ability  so  that  nothing  should  hinder  them  from 
giving  all  their  powrers  to  the  service  of  God. 

Second,  to  look  upon  sexual  intercourse  of  one  person 
with  another  of  the  opposite  sex,  no  matter  who  they  may 
be,  as  the  entering  upon  indissoluble  marriage  relation. 

(Matthew  XIX,  4-7). 

Thirdly,  marriage  must  not  be  looked  upon  as  now  in 
the  light  of  a  license  to  satisfy  sexual  passions,  but  as  a 
sin,  the  redemption  from  which  consists  in  the  fulfilment  of 
family  obligations. 

12.  The  licensing  of  two  persons  of  opposite  sexes  to 
live  together  sexually  in  marriage  is  not  only  out  of  accord 
with  the  Christian  teaching,  but  is  directly  contrary  to  it. 

Chastity  according  to  the  Christian  doctrine  is  that 
perfection  towards  which  a  person  leading  the  life  of  a 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  137 

Christian  should  properly  strive.  Therefore  all  that  hinders 
the  approach  to  chastity,  such  as  licensing  of  sexual  re- 
lations in  marriage,  is  opposed  to  the  demands  of  the 
Christian  doctrine. 

13.  If  marriage  is  looked  upon  as  releasing  us  with 
the  moment  of  its  conclusion  from  the  necessity  of  striving 
after  chastity,  then  marriage  instead  of  curtailing  lust  en- 
courages it.     Unfortunately  this  is  the  attitude  of  the  ma- 
jority of  people  to  marriage. 

14.  Think  ten,   twenty,  a  hundred  times  before  you 
marry.     To  bind  your  life  with  that  of  another  person  in 
a  sexual  relation  is  a  matter  of  great  import. 

VII. 

Children  are  the  Ransom  of  Sexual  Sin 

1.  If  man  attained  perfection  and  lived  in  chastity, 
mankind  would  cease  to  exist,  and  why,  indeed,  should  it 
then  live  on  earth,  for  they  would  become  like  angels  who 
neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  as  is  told  in  the 
New  Testament.    But  as  long  as  men  have  not  attained  per- 
fection, they  must  produce  after  their  kind,  so  that  their 
descendants,  in  their  striving  after  perfection,  may  attain 
that  perfection  which  men  are  destined  to  attain. 

2.  Marriage,  the  genuine  marriage  consisting  in  the 
bearing  and  rearing  of  children,  is  an  intermediate  service 
of  God,  serving  God  through  your  children.     "If  I  have 
left  undone  the  things  which  I  ought  to  have  done,  here 
are  my  children  in  my  place,  they  will  do  them." 

This  is  why  people  who  enter  married  life,  the  genuine 
married  life  having  for  its  object  the  bearing  of  children, 
always  experience  a  feeling  of  a  certain  relief  and  peace. 
They  feel  that  they  transmit  a  certain  part  of  their  obli- 
gations to  the  children  that  are  to  come.  But  this  feeling 


138  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

is  lawful  only  when  the  parents  joined  in  matrimony  en- 
deavor so  to  rear  their  children  that  they  become  the  ser- 
vants of  God  and  not  a  hindrance  to  the  work  of  God. 
The  consciousness  that  if  I  have  fallen  short  in  yielding 
myself  entirely  to  the  service  of  God,  I  can  do  everything 
in  my  power  to  enable  my  children  to  do  what  I  failed  to 
do, — this  consciousness  lends  a  spiritual  significance  both 
to  married  life  and  to  the  bringing  up  of  children. 

3.  Blessed  is  the  childhood,  which  amid  the  cruelties 
of  earth,  gives  us  a  little  glimpse  of  Heaven.    These  eighty 
thousand  daily  births  of  which  the  statistics  speak  are  like 
currents  of  innocence  and  freshness  which  fight  not  only 
against  the  destruction  of  the  species,  but  also  against  hu- 
man corruption  and  the  general  infection  with  sin.    All  the 
good  feelings  evoked  by  the  sight  of  the  cradle  and  by 
childhood  are  one  of  the  mysteries  of  Providence;  remove 
this  refreshing  dew  and  the  whirlwind  of  selfish  passions 
will  sear  human  society  as  though  with  fire. 

If  we  imagined  human  society  as  consisting  of  a  bil- 
lion immortal  creatures,  whose  number  could  neither  in- 
crease nor  decrease,  where  should  we  be,  what  would 
become  of  us,  great  Lord!  We  should  doubtless  become 
a  thousand  times  more  learned,  but  also  a  thousand  times 
more  evil. 

Blessed  be  childhood  for  the  blessing  it  gives  in  itself, 
and  for  the  good  it  unwittingly  effects  by  compelling  and 
permitting  us  to  love  it.  Only  thanks  to  childhood  do  we 
see  a  little  of  Paradise  here  on  earth.  Blessed  be  also 
Death.  Angels  need  no  birth  or  death  to  live,  but  man- 
kind imperatively,  inevitably  requires  both.  Amiel. 

4.  Marriage   is   justified  and  hallowed   only   through 
children,  inasmuch  as  though  we  have  failed  to  do  all  God 

wants  us  to  do,  we  still  can  serve  the  cause  of  God  through 
i 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  139 

our  children,  if  we  train  them  right.  Therefore,  that  mar- 
riage wherein  the  contracting  parties  desire  no  children  is 
worse  than  adultery  and  any  depravity. 

5.  Among  the  rich  children  are  often  looked  upon  as 
hindrance  to  enjoyment,  or  an  unfortunate  accident,  or  as 
a  certain  sort  of  sport  if  they  are  born  in  a  predetermined 
number,  and  they  are  brought  up  not  with  any  regard  to 
those  problems  of  human  life  which  they  must   face  as 
beings  endowed  with  love  and  reason,  but  solely  from  the 
point  of  view  of  pleasure  which  they  can  yield  to  their 
parents.     Such  children  are  generally  brought  up  by  their 
parents  not  with  any  care  to  prepare  them  for  a  worthy 
activity,  but  to  increase  their  height,  keep  them  outwardly 
clean,  fair  of  skin,  wellfed,  handsome,  pampered  and  sen- 
sual  (and  the  false  science  called  medicine  supports  the 
parents   in   this   attitude).     Fine  apparel,   entertainments, 
theatres,  music,  dances,  sweetmeats,   the   entire  order  of 
life  from  pictures  on  boxes  to  novels  and  poems  still  further 
excite  sensuousness,  so  that  the  filthiest  sexual  vices  and 
diseases  are  the  usual  conditions  in  the  youth  of  these 
unfortunate  children  of  the  rich. 

6.  The   significance   of  bearing  children   is   lost    for 
people  who  look  upon  carnal  love  as  a  means  of  gratifi- 
cation.    Instead  of  being  the  purpose  and  the  justification 
of  marital  relations,  they  become  a  hindrance  to  an  agree- 
able continuance  of  pleasures,  and  therefore  both  in  and  out 
of  marriage  the  employment  of  means  of  preventing  women 
from  having  children  has  grown  apace.     These  people  do 
not  only  deprive  themselves  of  the  sole  pleasure  and  the 
only  redeeming   feature   of  marriage  as  afforded  by   the 
children,  but  also  lose  human  dignity  and  semblance. 

7.  In  all  animal  life,  particularly  in  the  bringing  forth 
of  children,  man  ought  to  be  above  the  animals,  but  cer- 


140  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tainly  not  beneath  them.  But  people  are  just  in  this  one 
particular  the  inferior  of  animals.  In  the  animal  world 
the  male  and  the  female  come  together  only  when  issue 
may  result.  But  people,  man  and  woman,  come  together 
for  pleasure,  without  thinking  whether  it  will  lead  to  the 
birth  of  children  or  not. 

8.  It  is  not  our  business  to  argue  whether  the  birth  of 
children  is  or  is  not  a  blessing.  Our  business  is  to  carry 
out  with  regard  to  them  all  of  the  obligations  which  their 
birth,  for  which  we  are  responsible,  imposes  upon  us. 


SLOTH 


SLOTH 

It  is  unjust  to  receive  from  people  more  than  the  labor 
which  you  give  them.  But  since  you  cannot  gauge  exactly 
whether  you  give  more  than  you  receive,  and  since  further 
you  may  at  any  moment  lose  your  strength,  fall  prey  to 
disease  and  be  compelled  to  receive  instead  of  giving,  en- 
deavor, while  you  have  the  strength,  to  labor  for  others  as 
little  as  possible. 

I 

If  a  Man  Avails  Himself  of  the  Labors  of  Others,  without 
Laboring  Himself,  He  Sins  Grievously 

1.  He  who  will  not  work,  neither  let  him  eat. 

Apostle  Paul. 

2.  In  making  use  of  anything,  remember  that  it  is  the 
product  of  human  labor,  and  if  you  waste,  spoil  or  destroy 
anything  you  waste  labor,  and  sometimes,  even  human  life. 

3.  He  who  does  not  feed  himself  by  his  own  labor, 
but  compels  others  to  support  him,  is  a  cannibal. 

Eastern  Wisdom. 

4.  The  entire  code  of  Christian  morality,  in  its  prac- 
tical application,  consists  in  considering  all  men  as  brothers, 
being  equal  to  all,  and  to  carry  this  out  in  practice,  first  of 
all  you  must  cease  inducing  others  to  labor  for  you,  and 
in  the  present  order  of  the  world  you  must  reduce  to  a 
minimum  your  use  of  the  labor  and  the  products  of  others, 
meaning  things  procured  with  money,  spend  as  little  money 
as  possible  and  live  as  simply  as  possible. 

5.  Do  not  let  another  do  what  you  can  do  yourself. 
Let  every  one  sweep  before  his  own  door.     If  every  man 
will  do  this,  the  street  will  be  clean. 


144  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

6.  What  is  the  sweetest  food?    The  food  which  you 
have  earned  with  your  own  labor.  Mohammed. 

7.  It  is  a  very  good  thing  for  a  rich  man  to  leave, 
though  it  be  for  a  short  season,  his  life  of  luxury,  and  to 
live,  though   for  a  brief  time,  as  a  laborer,  performing 
with  his  own  hands  the  tasks  usually  performed  for  rich 
men  by  hired  servants.     Let  a  rich  man  do  this  but  once, 
and  he  will  soon  realize  the  great  sinfulness  of  his  former 
ways.     Let  him  live  in  this  fashion  for  a  season  and  he 
will  realize  fully  the  wrongfulness  of  the  life  of  the  rich. 

8.  Men   have    in   the   habit   of   considering  cooking, 
sewing  and  nursing  children  a  task  for  women  and  some- 
thing shameful  for  a  man  to  engage  in.    Yet,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  a  shameful  thing  for  an  idle  man  to   fritter 
away  his  time  with  trifles  and  to  do  nothing,  while  a  weary, 
frequently  a  weakly   woman,   on  the  threshold  of   child- 
birth, is  cooking,  washing  and  nursing  children  for  him. 

9.  People  living  in  luxury  cannot  love  others.     They 
cannot  love  others,  because  the  things  they  use  were  made 
by  people  whom  they  compel  to  render  them  service,  and 
this  service  is  rendered  unwillingly,  through  sheer  neces- 
sity, frequently  with  curses  of  resentment.     If  they  would 
love  others  let  them  first  cease  torturing  them. 

10.  A  monk  was  seeking  salvation  in  the  desert.    Un- 
ceasingly he  read  his  prayers,  and  twice  each  night  he 
arose  from  his  bed  to  pray.    A  peasant  supplied  him  with 
food.     And  a  doubt  entered  his  mind  whether  such  life 
was  good.     And  he  sought  out  an  aged  saint  to  ask  his 
counsel.    He  came  to  the  aged  saint  and  told  him  all  about 
his  life,  how  he  prayed,  what  words  he  used,  how  he  was 
wont  to  break  his  sleep  and  lived  on  alms  and  asked  the 
saint  whether  he  was  doing  well.     And  the  saint  replied : 
"All  these  thou  doest  well,  but  go  thou  and  look  how  the 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  145 

peasant  liveth,  the  one  who  brings  thy  food.  Perhaps  thou 
canst  learn  something  from  him." 

The  monk  sought  out  the  peasant  and  spent  a  day 
and  a  night  with  him.  The  peasant  arose  early  in  the 
morning  and  all  his  prayer  was:  "O  Lord!"  Then  he 
labored  all  day,  plowing.  At  night  he  returned  home  and 
on  retiring  again  uttered  his  prayer :  "O  Lord !" 

The  monk  watched  the  peasant's  life  for  a  day  and 
said  to  himself :  "There  is  nothing  that  I  can  learn  from 
him."  And  he  marveled  why  the  saint  had  sent  him  to 
the  peasant. 

Then  he  returned  to  his  adviser  and  told  him  that  he 
had  been  to  see  the  peasant,  but  found  nothing  instruct- 
ive. "He  does  not  think  of  God,  and  mentions  Him  only 
twice  a  day." 

The  saint  replied:  "Take  this  cup  of  oil  and  walk 
around  the  village,  then  come  back,  but  see  thou  spill  not 
one  drop." 

The  monk  did  as  he  was  bid  and  when  he  returned 
the  saint  questioned  him : 

"How  many  times  didst  thou  remember  God  while 
bearing  the  cup?" 

The  monk  admitted  that  he  had  not  remembered  him 
once.  "I  was  only  watching  to  see  that  I  spilt  no  oil." 

And  the  saint  reproved  him :  "This  one  cup  of  oil  so 
engrossed  thy  mind  that  thou  didst  not  once  think  of  God. 
The  peasant  feeds  his  family,  himself  and  thee  with  his 
labor  and  care  and  yet  twice  he  remembered  God." 

II. 

It  is  Not  a  Hardship,  But  a  Joy,  to  Obey  the 

Command  to  Labor 

1.  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  earn  thy 
daily  bread."  Such  is  the  immutable  law  of  the  body. 


146  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Just  as  the  law  of  the  woman  is  to  bear  her  children  in 
pain,  so  the  law  of  labor  is  imposed  upon  man.  A  woman 
cannot  free  herself  of  that  law.  If  she  adopt  a  child  born 
of  another,  it  will  always  be  a  stranger  to  her  and  she 
will  lose  the  joy  of  motherhood.  Even  so  with  the  labor 
of  man.  If  a  man  eat  the  bread  earned  by  another,  he 
deprives  himself  of  the  joy  of  labor.  Bondareff. 

2.  Man  fears  death  and  is  subject  unto  it.     A  man 
without  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  might  seem  happy, 
but  he  irresistibly  strives  towards  that  knowledge.     Man 
loves  idleness  and  the  satisfaction  of  his  desires  without 
suffering,  and  yet  it  is  labor  and  suffering  that  mean  life 
to  him  and  to  his  kind. 

3.  What  a  dreadful  error  to  think  that  the  soul  of 
man  may  live  the  highest  life  of  the  spirit,  while  his  body 
is  maintained  in  idleness  and  luxury!    The  body  is  always 
the  first  disciple  of  the  soul.  Thoreau. 

4.  If  a  man,  living  alone,  releases  himself  from  the 
law  of  laboring,  he  executes  himself  immediately  through 
the  weakening  and  decaying  of  his  body.     But  if  a  man 
releases  himself   from  that  law  by  compelling  others   to 
labor  for  him,  he  immediately  executes  himself  through 
the  eclipsing  and  weakening  of  his  soul. 

5.  Man  lives  the  life  of  the  body  and  of  the  spirit. 
And  there  is  a  law  of  the  life  of  the  body  and  a  law  of 
the  life  of  the  spirit.     The  law  of  the  life  of  the  body 
is  labor.     The  law  of  the  life  of  the  spirit  is  love.     If  a 
man  violate  the  law  of  the  life  of  the  body,  the  law  of 
labor,  he  is  bound  to  violate  the  law  of  the  life  of  the 
spirit,  the  law  of  love. 

6.  No  matter  how  gorgeous  may  be  the  attire  pre- 
sented to  you  by   a  king,   your  homespun   garments  are 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  147 

better;  no  matter  how  delicate  may  be  the  viands  of  the 
rich,  the  bread  of -your  own  table  is  sweeter.  Saadi. 

7.  If  you  labor  much  for  others,  do  not  let  your  labor 
seem  burdensome,  seek  no  praise  for  it,   remember  that 
your  labor,  if  performed  for  others  with  love,  avails  above 
all  things  for  your  true  self,  your  soul. 

8.  The  power  of  God  makes  all  people  equal,  taking 
away  from  those  who  have  much,  giving  unto  those  who 
have  little.    Rich  men  have  more  things  and  less  joy  from 
them.     The  poor  have  fewer  things,  but  more  joy.     The 
water  from  a  brook,  and  a  piece  of  bread  taste  sweeter 
to  a  poor  laborer  after  his  toil  than  the  most  expensive 
viands  and  beverages  to  a  rich  idler.     The  rich  man  has 
tasted  all  things  and  is  bored,  he  finds  no  joy  in  anything. 
The  laborer,  after  his  toil,  finds  each  time  new  pleasures 
in  food,  in  drink  and  in  rest. 

9.  Hell  is  hidden  behind  pleasures,  Paradise  behind 
labor  and  privations.  Mohammed. 

10.  Without  the  toil  of  the  hand  there  can  be  no  sound 
body,  neither  can  there  be  sound  thoughts  in  the  head. 

11.  Would  you  be  always  in  good  humor?     Labor 
until  you  are  weary.     Idleness  makes  men  dissatisfied  and 
cross.     Laboring  beyond  measure  may  produce  the  same 
effect. 

12.  One  of  the  best  and  purest  of  pleasures  is  rest 
after  labor.  Kant. 

III. 

The  Best  Toil  is  Tilling  the  Soil 
1.    In  the  course  of  time  all  men  will  recognize  that 
truth   which  has  been  already   realized   by  the   foremost 
men  of  all  races  that  the  principal  virtue  of  mankind  con- 


148  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

sists  in  obeying  the  laws  of  the  Supreme  Being.  "Earth 
thou  art,  to  earth  shalt  thou  return,"  this  is  the  first  law 
of  our  life  which  we  acknowledge.  And  the  second  law 
is  to  cultivate  the  earth  from  which  we  were  taken  and  to 
which  we  must  return.  The  tilling  of  the  soil,  and  the 
love  of  animals  and  plant  life  which  is  bound  up  with  it, 
help  the  man  best  of  all  to  realize  the  meaning  of  life, 
and  to  live  it.  Ruskin. 

2.  Agriculture  is  not  merely  one  of  the  occupations 
proper  to  man.     Agriculture  is  the  one  occupation  proper 
to  all  men;     agricultural  labor  gives  man  the  maximum 
of  freedom  and  the  maximum  of  happiness. 

3.  To  him  who  does  not  till  the  earth,  the  earth  says : 
"Because  thou  dost  not  work  me  with  thy  right  hand  and 
with  thy  left,  thou  shalt  always  stand  before  the  door  of 
the  stranger  with  other  beggars,  thou  shalt  always  live  on 
the  offal  of  the  rich."  Zarathustra. 

4.  In  our  present  mode  of  life  the  most  futile  and 
useless  work  receives  the  greatest  reward;  work  in  sweat 
shops,  tobacco   factories,  pharmacies,  banks,  business  of- 
fices, or  at  literature,  music,  etc.,  but  agricultural  labor 
is  the  poorest  paid.     If  money  rewards  be  considered  of 
importance,  this  is  very  unjust.     But  if  one  considers  the 
joy  of  labor  and  its  effect  upon  the  health  of  the  body  and 
the  fascination  of  it,  such  a  division  of  reward  is  per- 
fectly just. 

5.  Manual  labor,  and  particularly  tilling  the  soil,  is 
good  not  only  for  the  body,  but  also  for  the  soul.     Men 
who  do  not  labor  with  their  hands  cannot  have  a  sound 
idea  of  things.     Such  men  are  forever  thinking,  speaking, 
listening  or  reading.     Their  mind  has  no  rest,  is  excited 
and  easily  wanders.    Agricultural  labor,  on  the  other  hand, 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  149 

is  useful  to  man  because  in  addition  to  resting  him  it 
enables  him  to  realize  simply,  clearly  and  reasonably  the 
place  of  man  in  life. 

6.  I  am  very  fond  of  peasants.  They  are  not  educated 
enough  to  reason  incorrectly.  Montaigne. 

IV. 

What  is  Known  as  Division  of  Labor  is  Merely 
a  Brief  for  Idleness 

1.  Lately  much  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  principal 
cause  of  success  in  production  is  division  of  labor.  We  say 
"division  of  labor,"  but  this  term  is  incorrect.  In  our  so- 
ciety it  is  not  labor  that  is  divided,  but  human  beings — these 
are  divided  into  human  particles,  broken  into  small  pieces, 
ground  into  dust:  in  a  factory  one  man  makes  only  one 
minute  portion  of  an  article,  because  that  tiny  fragment  of 
reason  which  he  retains  is  insufficient  to  make  a  complete 
pin  or  a  complete  nail,  and  is  exhausted  in  the  task  of  point- 
ing the  pin  or  heading  the  nail.  It  is  true  that  it  is  good 
and  desirable  to  make  as  many  pins  daily  as  possible,  but  if 
we  realized  the  material  with  which  we  finish  them,  we 
would  realize  how  unprofitable  it  all  is.  It  is  unprofitable 
because  we  polish  them  with  the  dust  of  the  human  soul. 

It  is  possible  to  chain  and  torture  people,  to  harness 
them  like  animals,  to  kill  them  like  flies  in  the  summer  time, 
and  yet  these  people  may  remain  in  a  certain  sense,  perhaps 
in  the  best  sense,  free.  But  to  crush  their  immortal  souls, 
to  choke  and  transform  men  into  movers  of  machinery, 
herein  is  true  slavery.  Only  this  degradation  and  transfor- 
mation of  men  into  machines  forces  the  workingmen  to  fight 
madly,  destructively  and  vainly  for  freedom,  the  true  mean- 
ing of  which  they  do  not  understand.  Their  resentment  is 
not  aroused  by  the  pressure  of  hunger,  not  by  the  pangs  of 


150  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

injured  pride  (these  two  causes  have  always  had  their 
effect,  but  the  foundations  of  society  have  never  been  as 
shaky  as  they  are  now).  It  is  not  that  they  are  not  well 
fed,  but  that  they  do  not  experience  any  pleasure  in  the  toil 
whereby  they  earn  their  daily  bread,  and  for  this  reason  they 
look  upon  wealth  as  the  only  source  of  pleasure. 

It  is  not  that  these  men  suffer  from  the  contempt  felt 
for  them  by  the  upper  classes,  but  they  cannot  bear  their 
own  self -contempt  because  they  feel  that  the  labor  to  which 
they  are  condemned  degrades  and  depraves  them,  making 
them  something  less  than  men. 

Never  have  the  upper  classes  shown  so  much  love  and 
sympathy  to  the  lower  classes  as  now,  and  yet  they  have 
never  been  more  hated.  Ruskin. 

2.  Men,  like  all  animals,  must  labor  and  toil  with  hands 
and  feet.     Men  may  compel  others  to  do  what  they  need, 
but  still  they  must  expend  bodily  energy  on  something.     If 
men  will  not  perform  necessary  and  reasonable  tasks,  they 
will  do  what  is  useless  and  foolish.    This  is  what  happens 
among  the  wealthy  classes. 

3.  The  idle  classes  justify  their  idleness  by  claiming 
to  attend  to  arts  and  sciences  which  are  needful  to  the  peo- 
ple.    They  undertake  to  provide  the  laboring  people  with 
these  things,  but  unfortunately  all  that  they  offer  under  the 
name  of  arts  and  sciences  is  false  arts  and  false  sciences.    So 
that  instead  of  rewarding  the  people  for  their  labor,  they 
deceive  and  corrupt  them  with  their  offerings. 

4.  The  European  boasts  to  a  Chinaman  about  the  ad- 
vantages of  machinery  production.    "Machinery  saves  man 
from  labor,"  says  the  European.    "To  be  saved  from  labor 
would  be  a  terrible  calamity,"  retorts  the  Chinaman. 

5.  Riches  may  be  obtained  only  in  three  ways:  by 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  151 

labor,  begging  or  theft.  The  workingmen  get  so  little  for 
their  labor  because  the  share  of  the  beggars  and  the  thieves 
is  too  great.  Henry  George. 

6.  All  men  who  do  not  labor  themselves,  but  live  by 
the  labor  of  others,  no  matter  what  they  may  call  themselves, 
as  long  as  they  do  not  labor  but  take  the  fruit  of  the  labor 
of  others,  all  such  men  are  robbers.  And  there  are  three 
classes  of  such  robbers :  some  neither  see,  nor  care  to  see 
that  they  are  robbers,  and  rob  their  brother  with  equanimity ; 
others  feel  that  they  are  wrong,  but  imagine  that  they  can 
excuse  their  robberies  by  the  plea  of  such  immaterial  labors 
as  they  may  consider  useful  to  people,  and  they  too  con- 
tinue to  rob.  Still  others,  and  these,  thanks  be  to  God,  are 
growing  more  numerous,  realize  their  sin  and  endeavor  to 
set  themselves  free  from  it. 

V. 

The  Activities  of  Men  Who  Do  Not  Obey  the  Law  of 
Laboring  are  Always  Futile  and  Fruitless 

1.  The  activities  of  idle  men  are  such  that  instead  of 
easing  the  labors  of  the  working  people  they  impose  upon 
them  additional  burdens. 

2.  As  the  horse  at  the  treadmill  cannot  stop,  but  must 
go  on,  even  so  is  man  incapable  of  doing  nothing.     There- 
fore there  is  as  little  merit  in  the  fact  of  a  man  working  as 
in  the  horse  treading  the  mill.     Not  the  fact  that  a  man  is 
working  is  of  consequence,  but  what  he  is  doing  is  of  im- 
portance. 

3.  Man's  dignity,  his  sacred  duty  and  obligation  de- 
mand that  he  use  his  hands  and  feet  for  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  given  him,  that  he  employ  the  food  which 
he  consumes  upon  the  labor  which  produces  this  food,  and 


152  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

not  to  have  them  atrophied,  or  to  wash  them  and  cleanse 
them  nor  to  use  them  merely  as  an  instrument  for  conveying 
food,  drink  or  cigarettes  to  the  mouth. 

4.  Men  who  have  given  up  working  with  their  hands 
may  be  clever,  but  seldom  are  rational.    If  so  much  nonsense 
and  foolishness  has  been  written,  printed  and  taught  in  our 
schools,  if  our  writings,  music,  pictures  are  so  refined  and 
hard  to  understand,  it  is  merely  due  to  the  fact  that  those 
who  are  responsible  for  these  things  do  not  toil  with  their 
hands  and  live  the  life  of  weakness  and  idleness. 

Emerson. 

5.  Manual  labor  is  particularly  important  because  it 
prevents  the  straying  of  the  mind :  giving  thought  to  trifles. 

6.  The  brain  of  the  idler  is  the  favorite  resort  of  the 
devil. 

7.  Men  seek  pleasure,  rushing  here  and  there,  because 
they  feel  the  emptiness  of  their  life,  but  do  not  yet  feel 
the  emptiness  of  the  whim  that  attracts  them  for  the  mo- 
ment- Pascal. 

8.  No  one  has  ever  counted  the  millions  of  days  of 
hard,  strenuous  toil,  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives 
which  are  being  wasted  to-day  in  our  world  upon  the  prep- 
aration of  amusements.    That  is  why  the  amusements  of  our 
world  are  so  sad. 

9.  Man,  like  any  other  animal,  is  so  made  that  he  must 
work  in  order  not  to  perish  from  hunger  and  cold.     And 
this  work,  just  as  in  the  case  of  all  animals,  is  not  a  torture, 
but  a  pleasure,  if  no  one  interferes  with  his  work. 

But  men  have  so  ordered  their  life  that  some,  without 
working,  compel  others  to  work  for  them,  and  bored  by  this 
state  of  affairs  think  up  all  sorts  of  banel  and  vile  things 
in  order  to  pass  away  the  time ;  others  must  work  beyond 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  153 

their  strength  and  are  embittered  principally  because  they 
work  for  others  and  not  for  themselves. 

It  is  not  well  with  either  of  these  two  classes.  Those 
who  will  not  work,  because  their  idleness  ruins  their  souls ; 
the  others,  because  working  to  excess  they  waste  their  body. 

But  these  latter  are  still  better  off  than  the  idlers,  for 
the  soul  is  more  precious  than  the  body. 

VI. 
The  Harm  of  Idleness 

1.  Do  not  be  ashamed  of  any  labor,  even  the  dirtiest, 
be  ashamed  of  one  thing  only,  namely :  idleness. 

2.  Do  not  respect  people  for  their  position  or  wealth, 
but  for  the  work  they  do.     The  more  useful  this  work  is, 
the  more  respect  they  are  entitled  to.    But  it  is  different  in 
the  world :  idle  and  rich  men  are  respected,  and  those  who 
perform  the  most  useful  of  all  labors,  agriculturists  and 
laborers,  are  not  respected  at  all. 

3.  The  idle  rich  seek  to  throw  dust  in  people's  eyes 
with  their  display  of  luxury.    They  feel  that  otherwise  peo- 
ple would  treat  them  with  the  contempt  they  deserve. 

4.  It  is  a  shame  for  man  to  hear  the  counsel :  "imitate 
the  ant  in  his  industry."    And  it  is  doubly  shameful  if  he 
does  not  follow  this  counsel.  Talmudic  teaching, 

5.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  delusions  is  the  idea 
that  the  happiness  of  man  consists  in  doing  nothing. 

6.  Eternal  idleness  should  have  been  included  among 
the  tortures  of  Hell,  and  they  have  given  it  a  place  among 
the  joys  of  Paradise.  Montaigne. 

7.  He  who  idles  has  always  many  assistants. 

8.  "Division  of  labor"  is  mostly  an  excuse  for  doing 
nothing,  or  performing  some  trifling  tasks  and  shifting  on 


154  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

the  shoulders  of  others  the  labor  which  is  necessary.  Those 
who  attend  to  this  division  of  labor  always  take  for  them- 
selves such  work  as  seems  the  most  pleasant  to  them,  leav- 
ing to  others  that  which  appears  to  them  hard. 

And  strangely  enough,  they  are  always  deceived,  for 
the  work  that  seems  to  them  the  most  agreeable,  turns  out 
to  be  the  most  onerous  in  the  end,  and  that  which  they 
avoided  the  most  pleasant. 

9.  Never  trouble  others  to  do  what  you  can  do  your- 
self. 

10.  Doubts,  sorrows,  melancholy,  resentment,  despair — 
these  are  the  fiends  that  lie  in  wait  for  a  man,  and  the  mo- 
ment he  enters  upon  a  life  of  idleness,  they  attack  him.    The 
surest  salvation  from  these  evil  spirits  is  persistent  physical 
labor.    When  a  man  takes  up  such  labor,  the  devils  dare  not 
approach  him,  but  merely  snarl  at  him  from  afar. 

Carlyle. 

11.  The  Devil  fishing  for  men  uses  all  sorts  of  bait. 
But  the  idle  man  needs  no  bait,  he  is  caught  with  the  bare 
hook. 

12.  There  are  two  proverbs :    "Work  will  bend  your 
back,  but  will  not  fill  your  pockets,"  and  again:    "Honest 
toil  will  earn  you  no  mansions."     These  two  proverbs  are 
unjust,  because  it  is  better  to  have  a  bent  back  than  be 
unjustly  rich,  and  honest  toil  is  to  be  preferred  to  man- 
sions. 

13.  It  is  better  to  take  a  rope  and  go  into  the  forest 
in  search  of  a  bundle  of  wood  to  be  sold  for  food,  than  to 
beg  food  of  people.     If  they  refuse  it,  you  are  annoyed,  if 
they  give  it,  you  are  ashamed,  which  is  worse. 

Mohammed. 

14.  There  were  two  brothers,  one  was  in  the  service 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  155 

of  a  nobleman,  the  other  lived  by  the  labor  of  his  hands. 
The  rich  brother  said  one  day  to  the  poor  one :  "Why 
don't  you  enter  the  service  of  my  master?  You  would  not 
know  hardships  or  toil." 

And  the  poor  one  replied :  "Why  don't  you  labor  ?  You 
would  not  know  humiliation  and  servitude." 

Philosophers  say  that  it  is  better  to  eat  in  peace  the 
bread  earned  by  toil  than  to  wear  a  golden  girdle  and  be  the 
servant  of  another.  It  is  better  to  mix  lime  and  clay  with 
your  hands  than  to  fold  them  on  your  breast  as  a  sign  of 
servitude.  Saadi. 

15.  The  best  life  is  not  to  stand  at  the  door  of  the 
rich  man  speaking  in  a  pleading  voice.     In  order  to  have 
such  life,  have  no  fear  of  labor.  Hindu  wisdom. 

16.  If  you  will  not  labor,  you  must  either  crawl  before 
others  or  use  force  upon  them. 

17.  Alms  are  a  good  work  only  if  they  are  given  from 
the  proceeds  of  your  own  labor. 

The  proverb  says :  the  dry  hand  is  tight,  the  sweating 
hand  is  generous.  And  so  we  read  in  the  "Teachings  of 
the  12  Apostles" :  "Let  your  alms  come  out  of  your  hand 
covered  with  the  sweat  thereof." 

18.  The  widow's  mite  is  not  only  equal  to  the  most 
precious  gifts,  but  it  is  this  mite  alone  which  is  a  genuine 
work  of  mercy. 

Only  the  toiling  poor  know  the  happiness  of  true  com- 
passion. Rich  idlers  are  deprived  of  it. 

19.  A   rich  man  had  everything  that   people   desire: 
millions  in  coin,  a  manigficent  palace,  a  beautiful  wife,  hun- 
dreds of  servants,  sumptuous  repasts,  all  sorts  of  dainties 
and  wines,  stables  filled  with  a  multitude  of  horses.     And 
he  tired  of  it  all,  he  wearied  of  sitting  all  day  in  his  mag- 


156  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

nificent  mansion,  he  sighed  and  complained  of  his  weariness. 
The  only  thing  left  for  him  in  the  way  of  joy  was  eating. 
When  he  awoke  from  sleep,  he  awaited  his  breakfast,  after 
his  breakfast  he  waited  for  dinner,  and  after  dinner  he 
looked  forward  to  his  supper.  But  even  this  joy  did  not 
last.  He  ate  so  much  that  he  ruined  his  digestion  and  felt 
no  appetite  for  food.  He  summoned  his  physicians.  The 
physicians  gave  him  some  medicine  and  ordered  him  to 
walk  two  hours  each  day. 

And  as  he  was  walking  by  the  physician's  orders  his 
alloted  two  hours,  ruminating  upon  his  lack  of  desire  for 
food,  a  beggar  approached  him : 

"Alms,"  he  pleaded,  "alms,  for  the  sake  of  Christ." 

The  rich  man  was  engrossed  with  his  own  sorrow  and 
did  not  hear  the  beggar.  , 

"Pity  me,  master,  for  I  have  not  eaten  the  whole  day." 

When  the  rich  man  heard  him  speak  of  food,  he 
stopped. 

"You  desire  to  eat  ?" 

"Very  much,  master,  very  much,  indeed." 

"What  a  fortunate  fellow,"  thought  the  rich  man,  and 
he  envied  the  beggar. 

Poor  men  envy  the  rich,  and  the  rich  envy  the  poor. 

They  are  all  alike.  The  poor  are  better  off,  for  fre- 
quently they  are  not  to  blame  for  their  poverty,  but  the 
rich  have  always  themselves  to  blame  for  their  wealth. 


COVETOUSNESS 


COVETOUSNESS 

The  sin  of  covetousness  consists  in  the  acquisition  of 
ever  increasing  quantities  of  things  or  money,  of  which 
others  stand  in  need,  and  in  the  retention  of  the  same,  in 
order  to  use  at  will  the  labor  of  others. 

I. 

Wherein  is  the  Sin  of  Wealth? 

1.  In  our  society  man  cannot  sleep  without  paying  for 
his  lodging.     The  air,  the  water,  the  light  of  the  sun  are 
his  only  on  the  great  highway.     His  sole  recognized  right 
is  to  walk  upon  this  highway  until  he  reels  from  fatigue, 
because  he  cannot  stop,  but  must  keep  on  moving. 

Grant  Allen. 

2.  Ten  good  men  can  lie  down  and  sleep  in  peace  upon 
one  mat,  but  two  rich  men  cannot  live  in  peace  in  ten  rooms. 
A  good  man  having  a  loaf  of  bread  will  share  half  with  a 
hungry  neighbor,  but  a  conqueror  may  conquer  a  continent 
and  will  never  rest  until  he  conquers  another. 

3.  A  rich  family  may  have  fifteen  rooms  to  accom- 
modate three  persons,  yet  there  will  be  no  room  to  shelter  a 
beggar  from  the  cold  and  to  give  him  a  night's  lodging. 

A  peasant  has  a  hut  seven  yards  square  for  his  flock  of 
seven  souls,  yet  he  readily  admits  a  wanderer,  saying:  God 
bids  us  share  with  others  half  and  half. 

4.  The  rich  and  the  poor  supplement  one  another.    If 
there  are  rich,  there  must  be  poor  also.     If  there  is  sense- 
less luxury,  that  terrible  need  is  likewise  bound  to  exist 
which  forces  those  that  are  poor  to  serve  senseless  luxury. 

Christ  loved  the  poor  and  avoided  the  rich. 


160  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

And  in  the  Kingdom  of  Truth  which  he  preached  there 
could  be  neither  rich  nor  poor.  Henry  George. 

5.  The  tramp  is  the  inevitable  complement  to  a  mil- 
lionaire. 

6.  The  pleasures  of  the   rich  are  obtained  with  the 
tears  of  the  poor. 

7.  When  rich  men  speak  of  public  welfare  I  know  that 
it  is  a  mere  conspiracy  of  the  rich  seeking  their  own  profit 
in  the  name  and  under  the  pretext  of  public  welfare. 

Thomas  Moore. 

8.  Honest  men  are  not  usually  rich.    Rich  men  are  not 
usually  honest.  Lao-Tse. 

9.  "Do  not  rob  a  poor  man  because  he  is  poor,"  says 
Solomon.     Yet  this  robbing  of  the  poor  man  because  he  is 
poor  is  the  most  usual  thing.    The  rich  always  utilize  the 
need  of  the  poor  to  make  them  work  for  the  rich  or  to  buy 
that  which  they  sell  at  the  lowest  price. 

The  robbery  of  a  rich  man  upon  the  highways,  for  the 
sake  of  his  riches,  is  a  much  rarer  occurrence,  because  it  is 
dangerous  to  rob  the  rich,  but  a  poor  man  may  be  robbed 
without  any  risk.  J0hn  Ruskin. 

10.  People  of  the  working  class  frequently  endeavor 
to  pass  into  the  class  of  the  wealthy  who  live  by  the  labor 
of  others.    This  they  call  coming  among  better  people.    But 
it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  "leaving  good  people  to  go 
among  worse  people." 

11.  Wealth  is  a  great  sin  before  God,  poverty  a  great 
sin  before  people.  Russian  proverb. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  161 

II. 
Man  and  the  Land 

1.  As  I  was  born  for  the  land,  the  land  has  been  also 
given  me  to  take  from  it  what  I  need  for  cultivation  and 
planting,  and  I  have  the  right  to  demand  my  share.     Show 
me  where  it  is.  Emerson. 

2.  The  earth  is  our  common  mother ;  it  feeds  us,  shel- 
ters us,  gladdens  us  and  warms  us  with  love;   from  the 
moment  of  our  birth,  and  until  we  find  rest  in  eternal  sleep 
upon  its  maternal  bosom,  it  constantly  caresses  us  with  its 
tender  embraces. 

Yet  in  spite  of  this,  people  talk  of  selling  it,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  in  our  mercenary  age  earth  is  valued  in  a 
market  for  selling  purposes.  But  selling  the  earth  that  was 
made  by  the  Heavenly  Creator  is  a  wild  absurdity.  The 
earth  can  belong  only  to  God  Omnipotent  and  all  the  chil- 
dren of  men  who  labor  upon  it. 

It  is  not  the  property  of  any  one  generation — but  of  all 
generations  past,  present  and  future.  Carlyle. 

3.  Suppose  we  occupy  an  island  and  live  by  the  labor 
of  our  hands,  and  a  shipwrecked  mariner  is  cast  upon  our 
shore.    Has  he  the  same  basic  natural  right  as  we  to  occupy 
a  portion  of  the  land  and  to  feed  himself  by  the  labor  of 
his  hands  ?    It  seems  that  this  right  is  indubitable.    Yet  how 
many  men  are  born  upon  our  planet  to  whom  men  living  on 
it  deny  this  very  same  right.  Lavelais 

III. 

Harmful  Effects  of  Wealth 

1.  Men  complain  of  poverty  and  use  every  means  to 
attain  wealth,  yet  poverty  and  need  give  man  firmness  arid 


162  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

strength,  while  on  the  contrary  excesses  and  luxury  lead  to 
weakness  and  ruin. 

It  is  foolish  for  poor  men  to  seek  to  change  their  con1 
dition  which  is  beneficial  both  to  body  and  soul  for  riches 
which  are  harmful  to  both. 

2.  Necessity  trains  and  teaches.    Wealth  confounds. 

Russian  proverb. 

3.  The  poor  man  has  his  troubles,  but  the  rich  man 
has  a  double  share. 

4.  The  life  of  the  rich  man  is  bad  both  because  he  can 
never  be  at  peace  for  fear  that  his  wealth  will  take  wings, 
and  because  as  his  wealth  increases,  so  do  his  worries  and 
duties  increase.     But  principally  because  he  can  associate 
with  few  people  only,  who  must  be  as  rich  as  he.     He  can- 
not associate  with  poor  people.     If  he  were  to  foregather 
with  the  poor  he  would  clearly  realize  his  own  sin,  and  he 
could  not  avoid  being  ashamed  of  himself. 

5.  Wealth  has  gold — poverty  has  joy. 

Russian  proverb. 

6.  Riches    lead    man    to    pride,    cruelty,    self  satisfied 
ignorance  and  vice.  Meunier. 

7.  Callous  and  indifferent  to  the  woe  of  others  is  the 
man  of  wealth.  Talmud. 

8.  The  life  of  the  rich,  being  immune   from  labor, 
which  is  a  necessity  of  life,  cannot  be  free  from  madness. 
Men  who  do  not  labor,  that  is  who  fail  to  fulfill  one  of  the 
universal  laws  governing  the  life  of  all  men,  are  bound  to 
act   like    maniacs.      They  become   like   domestic   animals, 
horses,  dogs,  and  pigs.    They  romp  and  fight  and  rush  from 
place  to  place  without  knowing  why. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  163 

9.  Necessity  sharpens  the  wit,  wealth  dulls  it.    Fat  and 
laziness  drive  even  a  dog  to  madness.       Russian  proverb. 

10.  A  merciful  man  is  never  rich.     A  rich  man  is 
surely  not  merciful.  Manchu  proverb. 

11.  Men  seek  wealth,  but  if  they  only  knew  how  much 
of  good  people  lose  while  acquiring  wealth  they  would  as 
zealously  seek  to  get  rid  of  it  as  they  now  seek  to  acquire  it. 

12.  A  time  is  coming,  nor  is  it  afar  off,  when  people 
will  cease  to  believe  that  riches  give  happiness,  and  will 
realize  the  simple  truth  that  while  acquiring  and  retaining 
riches,  they  do  not  improve  but  spoil  their  own  life  and  the 
lives  of  others. 

IV. 

Riches  are  Not  to  Be  Envied,  But  to  Be  Ashamed  of 

1.  Rich  men  are  not  to  be  honored  or  envied,  but  to  be 
avoided  and  pitied.     The  rich  man  need  not  boast  of  his 
wealth,  but  ought  to  feel  ashamed  of  it. 

2.  It  is  well  if  the  rich  see  the  sinfulness  of  riches  and 
do  not  censure  the  poor  for  their  envy  and  jealousy.     But 
it  is  bad  when  they  judge  the  poor  for  their  envy,  yet  fail 
to  perceive  their  own  sin.    It  is  also  good  if  the  poor  realize 
the  sin  of  their  envy  and  jealousy  of  the  rich,  nor  censure 
the  rich,  but  pity  them  instead.    But  it  is  bad  if  they  censure 
the  rich,  but  fail  to  perceive  their  own  sin. 

3.  If  the  poor  envy  the  rich,  they  are  no  better  than 
the  rich. 

4.  The  self-content  of  the  rich  is  bad,  but  no  less  evil 
is  the  envy  of  the  poor.     How  many  poor  there  are  who 
judge  the  rich,  yet  act  just  as  the  rich  towards  those  who 
are  still  poorer  than  themselves. 


164  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

V. 

Excuses  for  Wealth 

1.  If  you  receive  an  income  without  laboring  for  it, 
doubtless  some  one  is  laboring  without  receiving  an  income 
for  it.  Memnonides. 

2.  Only  a  man  convinced  that  he  is  not  like  others, 
but  better  than  others,  can  with  a  calm  conscience  enjoy 
wealth  while  surrounded  by  poor.    Only  the  thought  that  he 
is  better  than  others  can  justify  a  man  before  the  tribunal 
of  his  own  heart  if  he  has  wealth,  while  others  around 
him  are  poor.     And  the  most  curious  thing  of  all  is  that 
possession  of  wealth,  which  should  be  a  source  of  shame, 
is   considered   a   proof   of   a   man's   superiority   over   his 
fellows.    "I  enjoy  wealth,  because  I  am  better  than  others, 
and  I  am  better  than  others,  because  I  enjoy  wealth,"- 
such  is  the  attitude  of  a  man  of  this  type. 

3.  Nothing  so  clearly  exposes  the  error  of  the  reli- 
gions which  we  confess  as  the  fact  that  people  considering 
themselves  Christians  not  only  enjoy  wealth  amid  universal 
want,  but  are  actually  proud  of  it. 

4.  Men  can  feed  themselves  in  three  ways :  by  robbery, 
begging  and  labor.    It  is  easy  to  distinguish  those  who  earn 
their  bread  by  labor;  equally  easy  to  tell  those  who  live 
by  alms. 

5.  One  of  the  most  current  and. the  most  grievous 
errors  of  judgment  is  to  consider  that  as  good  which  one 
likes.     Men  like  wealth,  yet  although  the  evil  of  wealth 
is   very   apparent,   they  try   to   persuade   themselves   that 
wealth  is  good. 

6.  Rich  men  seemingly  could  not  pretend  either  to 
themselves  or  to  others  that  they  do  not  know  how  hard 
the  working  people  must  toil, — some  under  ground,  others 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  165 

in  the  water,  still  others  around  furnaces,  ten  to  fourteen 
hours  at  a  stretch,  many  working  nights  in  various  fac- 
tories,— and,  they  are  engaged  in  such  cruel  work  just  be- 
cause the  rich  give  them  a  chance  to  live  only  in  return  for 
the  performance  of  such  tasks.  Seemingly  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  deny  something  so  patent.  Yet  the  rich  do  not 
see  it,  just  as  the  children  who  close  their  eyes  to  avoid 
seeing  that  which  frightens  them. 

7.  Can  it  be  that  God  gave  something  to  one  man 
and  denied  it  to  another?     Can  it  be  that  the  common 
Father  of  all  has  excluded  any  one  of  his  children?    You, 
men,  who  claim  the  exclusive  right  to  enjoy  His  gifts  show 
us  that  will  and  testament  whereby  He  should  have  de- 
prived your  other  brothers  of  their  heritage. 

Lamenais. 

8.  It  is  true  that  wealth  is  an  accumulation  of  labor. 
But  usually  one  man  labors,  another  accumulates.     And 
this  is  what  scientists  call  "division  of  labor." 

From  English  Sources. 

9.  Pagans  considered  wealth  a  blessing  and  a  glory, 
but  to  a  true  Christian  wealth  is  an  evil  and  a  shame. 

To  say  a  ''rich  Christian"  is  like  saying  "warm  ice." 

10.  It  would  seem  that  in  the  face  of  the  agonizing 
poverty  of  the  working  people  who  are  dying  for  want  of 
necessaries  and  because  of  excessive  toil   (who  can  claim 
ignorance  of  these  facts?)    the  rich  men  who  enjoy  the 
fruit  of  these  labors  bought  with  the  lives  of  men  could 
not  be  at  peace  for  a  single  moment.     Yet  there  are  rich 
men  who  are  liberal  minded,  humane  and  very  sensitive 
to  the  sufferings  of  men  and  animals,  who  never  cease  to 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  these  labors  and  who  ever  endeavor 
to  increase  their  own  wealth,  that  is  to  add  to  the  fruit  of 


166  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

these  labors  enjoyed  by  them,  and  while  engaged  in  this 
pursuit  they  are  perfectly  serene. 

This  is  due  to  the  new  science  of  political  economy, 
which  explains  things  in  a  new  way,  showing  that  the  divi- 
sion of  labor  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  thereof  de- 
pend upon  supply  and  demand,  upon  capital,  income,  wage, 
market  values,  profits,  etc. 

Upon  this  theme  a  multitude  of  books  and  pamphlets 
have  been  written  in  a  very  short  time,  a  multitude  of 
lectures  have  been  delivered,  and  there  is  no  end  to  such 
books  and  pamphlets  and  lectures. 

The  majority  of  people  may  not  know  the  details  of 
these  soothing  explanations  of  science,  but  they  neverthe- 
less know  that  such  explanations  exist,  and  that  bright 
and  learned  men  demonstrate  right  along  that  the  present 
order  of  things  is  just  as  it  should  be,  and  that  we  may 
keep  on  living  in  peace  without  trying  to  change  it. 

This  alone  can  account  for  the  darkened  state  of  mind 
of  those  kind  people  in  our  modern  society  who  can  sincerely 
pity  dumb  animals,  yet  calmly  devour  the  life  of  their  own 
brothers. 

VI. 

In  Order  to  Be  Blest,  Man  Should  Pay  Heed  Not  to  the 

Increase  of  His  Possessions,  But  of  the  Love 

Within  Himself 

1.  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break 
through  and  steal : 

But  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  Heaven,  where 
neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do 
not  break  through  nor  steal ;  For  where  your  treasure  is, 
there  will  your  heart  be  also. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  167 

To  lay  up  treasures  in  Heaven  is  to  increase  the  love 
within  you.  And  love  is  not  in  harmony  with  wealth,  it 
is  directly  contrary  to  it.  A  man  living  the  life  .of  love 
cannot  either  accumulate  wealth,  or  if  he  has  it,  he  cannot 
retain  it. 

2.  Earn  such  wealth  that  no  one  can  take  away  from 
you,  that  will  remain  with  you  even  after  death,  that  will 
not  decay.     Such  wealth  is  your  soul. 

Hindu  proverb. 

3.  Men  worry  a  thousand  times  more  about  increasing 
their  wealth  than  about  increasing  their  knowledge.     And 
yet  it  is  clear  to  any  one  that  the  happiness  of  man  depends 
much  more  upon  what  is  within  man  than  upon  what  he 
possesses.  Schopenhauer. 

4.  And  he  spake  a  parable  unto  them,  saying,  The 
ground  of  a  certain  rich  man  brought  forth  plentifully ; 

And  he  thought  within  himself,  saying,  What  shall  I 
do,  because  I  have  no  room  where  to  bestow  my  fruits? 

And  he  said,  This  will  I  do :  I  will  pull  down  my 
barns,  and  build  greater;  and  there  will  I  bestow  all  my 
fruits  and  my  goods. 

And  I  will  say  to  my  soul :  Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods 
laid  up  for  many  years ;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink  and 
be  merry. 

But  God  said  unto  him,  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee:  then  whose  shall  be  the  things 
which  thou  hast  provided?"  Luke  XII,  16-20. 

5.  Why  does  a  man  wish  to  be  wealthy?     Why  does 
he  need  expensive  horses,   fine   raiment,   beautiful   apart- 
ments, the  right  to  enter  public  places,  amusements  ?    Only 
because  of  a  lack  of  spiritual  life. 


168  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Give  such  a  man  an  inner  spiritual  life  and  he  will 
not  require  any  of  these  things.  Emerson. 

6.    As  heavy  raiment  hinders  the  movements  of  the 
body,  so  the  riches  impede  the  progress  of  the  soul. 

Demophilos. 

VII. 

Combating  the  Sin  of  Covetousness 

1.  With  what  effort  and  sin  riches  are  gathered  and 
preserved!    And  yet  there  is  but  one  joy  to  be  had  of  ac- 
cumulated riches.    This  joy  consists  in  giving  up  the  riches 
after  realizing  all  the  evil  thereof. 

2.  If  you  crave  the  grace  of  God,  show  works.    But 
there  may  be  still  some  one  who  will  say  with  a  certain 
rich  young  man :     "All  these  things  have  I  kept  from  my 
youth  up,  I  did  not  steal — slay,  commit  adultery."     And 
Christ  said  that  it  was  not  all,  that  he  still  lacked  some- 
thing.    What  was  it?     "Go,  and  sell  that  thou  hast,"  He 
said,   "and  give  to  the  poor,  and  come  and   follow  me" 
(Matthew,  xlx,  21).     To    follow   Him  means   to   imitate 
His  works.     What  works?     Loving  your  neighbor.     And 
if  a  young  man  living  in  such  abundance   could  refrain 
from  distributing  his  riches  among  the  poor,  how  could 
he  say  that  he  loved  his  neighbor?     If  love  is  strong,  it 
must  not  be  shown  in  words  alone,  but  in  deeds.     And  a 
rich  man  can  show  his  love  with  deeds  by  giving  up  his 
riches. 

3.  He  who  has  less  than  he  desires  must  know  that 
he  has  more  than  he  deserves,  Lichtenberg. 

4.  There  are  two  ways  to  escape  poverty:  one  is  to 
increase  your  possessions,  the  other  to  teach  yourself  to 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  169 

be  content  with  little.  To  increase  your  possessions  is  not 
always  feasible  and  rarely  can  be  done  honestly.  To  dimin- 
ish your  wishes  is  always  in  your  power  and  always  good 
for  your  soul. 

5.  The  meanest  thief  is  not  he  who  takes  what  he 
needs,  but  he  who  clings  to  that  which  he  does  not  need 
and  which  may  be  needful  to  others,  without  giving  to 
others. 

6.  "But  whoso  hath  this  world's  good,  and  seeth  his 
brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compas- 
sion from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him? 

My  little  children,  let  us  not  love  in  word,  neither  in 
tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth."  i  J0hn,  Hi,  17-18. 

And  if  the  rich  man  would  love  not  in  word,  neither 
in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth,  let  him  give  to  him 
who  asks, — said  Christ.  And  if  he  gave  to  those  who  ask, 
no  matter  how  much  wealth  a  man  might  have,  he  would 
soon  cease  to  be  rich.  And  as  soon  as  he  ceases  to  be  rich, 
he  will  be  in  the  position  of  the  rich  young  man  to  whom 
Christ  spoke,  there  will  then  be  nothing  to  hinder  him 
from  following  Christ. 

7.  Wise  men  of  China  said:    "Though  it  be  wrong, 
still  it  is  pardonable  for  a  poor  man  to  envy  the  rich,  but 
it  is  unpardonable  for  a  rich  man  to  boast  of  his  riches 
and  to  refuse  to  share  them  with  the  poor." 

8.  Mercy  is  only  then  genuine,  when  that  which  you 
give  you  have  torn  from  yourself.    Only  then  he  who  re- 
ceives a  material  gift,  receives  also  a  spiritual  gift. 

But  if  the  gift  be  no  sacrifice,  merely  a  superfluity,  it 
only  irritates  the  recipient. 

9.  Munificent  rich  ignore  the  fact  that  their  benefac- 


170  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tions  to  the  poor  are  merely  things  they  have  snatcned 
from  the  hands  of  still  poorer  people. 

10.  "No  man  can  serve  two  masters :  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other;  or  else  he  will  hold  to 
the  one,  and  despise  the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon." 

You  will  either  work  for  your  earthly  life,  or  for  God. 

"Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  Take  no  thought  for  your 
life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink;  nor  yet 
for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on." 

Is  not  your  life  worth  more  than  -neat  and  raiment, 
and  did  not  God  give  it  to  you  ? 

Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air:  for  they  sow  not,  neither 
do  they  reap,  and  God  feeds  them.  Man  is  not  worse  than 
a  fowl.  If  God  has  given  life  to  man,  he  will  know  how  to 
feed  him.  And  you  know  in  your  own  heart  that  labor 
as  you  might,  you  can  do  nothing  for  yourselves.  You 
cannot  increase  your  time  by  one  hour.  And  why  take 
thought  for  raiment?  The  flowers  of  the  fields  do  not  toil 
or  spin,  yet  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  them.  If  God  so  clothe  the  grass,  which  to-day  is, 
and  to-morrow  is  cut  down,  will  He  not  clothe  you? 

Therefore,  take  no  thought  of  what  ye  shall  eat  and 
wear.  All  men  need  these  things,  and  God  knows  your 
need.  Neither  take  thought  of  the  future.  Live  in  the 
present.  Take  only  thought  how  to  do  the  will  of  your 
Father.  Seek  the  one  thing  needful,  the  other  things  will 
come  of  themselves.  Seek  only  to  do  the  will  of  your 
Father.  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow 
shall  take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself.  Sufficient  unto 
the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.  Thus  taught  Jesus,  and  the 
truth  of  these  words  every  man  can  test  for  himself  in 
his  own  life. 


I       I 


ANGER 


ANGER 
I. 

Wherein  is  the  Sin  of  Uncharitableness 

1.  "Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old 
time :  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  and  whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be 
in  danger  of  the  judgment : 

But  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever  is  angry  with  his 
brother  without  a  cause  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judg- 
ment." Matthew,  v,  21-22. 

2.  If  you  feel  a  pain  in  your  body,  you  know  some- 
thing is  wrong.    You  have  either  done  what  you  ought  not 
to  have  done,  or  you  have  failed  to  do  what  you  ought  to 
have  done.    Even  so  in  the  spiritual  life.    If  you  feel  gloomy 
or  irritable,  you  may  know  that  something  is  wrong;  you 
either  love  that  which  you  ought  not  to  love  or  do  not  love 
that  which  you  ought  to  love. 

3.  The  sins  of  overeating,  idleness,  lust  are  evil  in 
themselves.    But  the  particular  bad  feature  of  these  sins  is 
that  they  lead  to  the  worst  sin — Uncharitableness,  or  hatred 
of  others. 

4.  It  is  not  the  robberies,  the  murders,  the  executions 
that  are  terrible.    What  is  a  robbery  ?    Passing  of  property 
from  one  person  to  another.    Such  things  have  always  been 
and  always  will  be,  and  there  is  nothing  dreadful  in  that. 
What  are  murders,  executions?    Passing  from  life  to  death. 
This  has  always  been  and  always  will  be  nor  is  there  any- 
thing dreadful  in  that.     The  most  dreadful  thing  is  not  in 
the  robberies  and  murders  themselves,  but  dreadful  are  the 
feelings  of  men  who  hate  one  another,  dreadful  is  the  hatred 
of  men  causing  them  to  rob,  slay  and  execute. 


174  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

II. 
The  Senselessness  of  Anger 

1.  Buddhists  say  that  all  sins  come  from  folly.    This 
is  true  of  all  sins,  but  particularly  of  uncharitableness.    The 
fisherman  or  the  fowler  is  angry  with  the  fish  or  bird  that 
escapes  him,  and  I  am  angry  because  a  man  has  done  that 
which  he  finds  needful  for  himself,  and  not  what  I  want  him 
to  do.    Is  it  not  equally  foolish  ? 

2.  A  man  has  done  you  an  injury,  and  you  become 
angry.    The  thing  is  past,  but  malice  against  this  man  has 
settled  in  your  heart,  and  whenever  you  think  of  him,  you 
are  angry.    It  is  as  though  the  devil  had  been  standing  watch 
at  the  door  of  your  heart,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  mo- 
ment you  let  malice  enter  therein,  had  stolen  into  your  heart 
and  gained  the  mastery  of  it.    Drive  him  out.    And  be  care- 
ful in  the  future  not  to  unlock  the  door  that  he  might  re- 
enter. 

3.  There  was  once  a  foolish  little  girl  who  had  lost  her 
eyesight  through  illness  and  could  not  realize  that  she  was 
blind.     She  was  angry  because  wherever  she  went  things 
were  in  her  way.     She  did  not  think  that  she  stumbled 
against  things,  but  imagined  that  the  things  pushed  against 
her. 

The  same  thing  happens  to  people  who  become  spirit- 
ually blind.  They  imagine  that  whatever  happens  to  them 
is  done  against  them  with  evil  intent,  and  they  are  angry 
with  people,  failing  to  realize,  even  as  the  foolish  child,  that 
their  woes  are  not  due  to  other  people,  but  due  to  their 
spiritual  blindness  and  their  living  for  their  body. 

4.  The  higher  a  man's  opinion  of  himself,  the  more 
easily  he  is  annoyed  with  people.    The  humbler  a  man,  the 
more  kindly  he  is  and  less  prone  to  anger. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  175 

5.  Do  not  think  that  virtue  is  in  courage  or  strength ; 
if  you  can  rise  above  anger,  if  you  can  forgive  and  learn  to 
love  him  who  has  injured  you,  you  are  doing  the  highest 
thing  that  a  man  can  aspire  to.  Persian  wisdom. 

6.  You  may  be  unable  to  refrain  from  anger  when 
offended  or  insulted  ;  but  you  can  always  refrain  from  show- 
ing what  is  in  your  heart  in  word  or  deed. 

7.  Malice  is  always  the  child  of  impotence. 

8.  If  a  man  scold  or  insult  thee,  do  not  give  in  to  him, 
refuse  to  enter  the  path  whereon  he  would  have  thee  stray, 
do  not  do  as  he  is  doing.  Marcus  Aurelius. 

III. 

Anger  Against  Fellow  Men  is  Irrational  Because  the 
Same  God  Dwells  in  All  Men 

1.  "Take  heed  if  you  would  strike  at  the  devil  in  man 
lest  you  hit  God."     This  saying  means  that  when  you  cen- 
sure a  man,  you  must  remember  that  the  spirit  of  God  dwells 
within  him. 

2.  Watch   yourself   from  early  morning  and   say  to 
yourself :  I  may  have  dealings  with  some  insolent,  insincere, 
tiresome  or  malicious  men.     We   frequently  come  across 
such  people.    They  do  not  know  what  is  good  and  what  is 
evil.    But  if  I  know  well  what  is  good  and  what  is  evil,  if  I 
realize  that  only  that  is  evil  to  me  which  I  commit  myself, 
no  evil  man  can  harm  me.    No  one  can  compel  me  to  do  evil. 
And  if  I  remember  that  every  man,  if  not  in  flesh  and  blood, 
then  at  least  in  spirit  is  my  neighbor,  and  that  in  all  of  us 
dwells  the  same  spirit  of  God,  I  am  unable  to  be  angry  with 
a  creature  so  close  to  me,  for  I  know  that  we  have  been 
created  one  for  another,  just  as  one  hand  for  the  other  or 
one  foot  for  its  mate,  just  as  the  eyes  and  the  teeth  help  one 


176  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

another  and  the  entire  body.  How  then  can  I  turn  away 
from  my  neighbor,  if  contrary  to  his  true  nature,  he  com- 
mits evil  against  me?  Marcus  Aurelius. 

3.  If  you  are  angry  with  a  man,  it  is  a  sign  that  you 
live  the  life  of  the  body  and  not  the  life  of  God.  If  you 
lived  the  life  of  God,  no  one  could  harm  you,  because  God 
cannot  be  harmed,  and  God, — the  God  within  you, — cannot 
be  angry. 

7.  In  order  to  live  in  harmony  with  people,  remember 
when  you  meet  people  that  not  what  you  need  is  of  im- 
portance, nor  what  he  needs  with  whom  you  have  come  in 
contact,  but  that  only  which  God  who  dwells  in  both  of  us 
requires  from  both. 

Just  remember  this  when  a  feeling  of  unkindness  to- 
wards another  rises  within  you,  and  you  will  be  immediately 
delivered  from  this  feeling. 

8.  Do  not  despise,  do  not  beyond  measure  honor  any 
man.    If  you  despise  a  man,  you  fail  to  value  right  the  good 
that  is  in  him.     If  you  honor  a  man  beyond  measure  you 
require  too  much  of  him.    In  order  to  keep  from  error,  think 
lightly  of  that  in  man  (as  in  your  own  self)  which  is  of  the 
body,  and  esteem  him  as  a  spiritual  creature  in  whom  dwells 
the  spirit  of  God. 

IV. 
The  Less  Man  Thinks  of  Himself,  the  Kinder  He  Is 

1.  It  is  said  that  a  good  man  can  not  help  being  angry 
with  evil  men,  but  if  this  were  so  then  the  better  a  man  is 
in  comparison  with  others,  the  angrier  he  would  be.  But  the 
contrary  is  true ;  the  better  a  man  is,  the  gentler  and  kindlier 
he  is  to  all  people.  This  is  because  a  good  man  remembers 
that  he  himself  has  done  sinful  things,  and  if  he  should  be 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  177 

angry  with  others  for  being  bad,  he  would  have  to  be  first 
of  all  angry  with  himself.  Seneca. 

2.  A  rational  man  cannot  be  angry  with  mean  and 
irrational  people. 

"  But  how  to  keep  from  anger  if  they  are  thieves  and 
rogues  ?  " 

And  what  is  a  thief  and  a  rogue?  A  man  gone  astray. 
Such  a  man  is  to  be  pitied  and  not  to  be  angry  with.  If  you 
can,  persuade  him  that  it  is  not  well  for  him  to  live  as  he  is 
living,  and  he  will  cease  from  evil.  And  if  he  does  not  yet 
realize  this  it  is  small  wonder  that  he  leads  an  evil  life. 

But  you  might  say  that  such  men  ought  to  be  pun- 
ished. 

If  a  man's  eyes  are  diseased  and  he  loses  his  sight,  you 
will  not  say  that  he  must  be  punished  for  it.  Then  why 
would  you  punish  a  man  who  is  deprived  of  what  is  more 
precious  than  his  eye-sight,  deprived  of  the  greatest  bless- 
ing,— of  the  knowledge  how  to  live  in  accord  with  reason? 
Such  men  are  not  to  be  treated  with  anger,  but  with  pity. 

Pity  such  unfortunates  and  see  that  their  delusions  do 
not  arouse  your  anger.  Remember  how  often  you  have 
erred  yourself  and  committed  sin,  and  rather  be  angry  with 
yourself  because  there  is  so  much  unkindness  and  malice  in 
your  soul.  Epictetus. 

3.  You  say  that  evil  men  are  all  around  you.     If  you 
think  so  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  you  are  very  bad  yourself. 

4.  Frequently  men  endeavor  to  show  themselves  off  by 
noting  the  faults  of  others.    They  only  show  off  their  own 
weakness. 

The  more  intelligent  and  kindly  a  man  is,  the  more 


178  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

good  he  sees  in  others — and  the  more  foolish  and  unkind  he 
is,  the  more  defects  he  finds  in  others. 

5.  It  is  true  that  it  is  difficult  to  be  kind  to  corrupt 
men  and  to  liars,  particularly  if  they  insult  us,  but  these  are 
just  the  people  with  whom  we  should  be  very  kind,  both  for 
their  sake  and  for  our  own. 

6.  When  you  are  angry  with  some  one,  you  generally 
seek  to  justify  your  heart  and  try  to  see  only  that  which  is 
evil  in  him  who  is  the  object  of  your  anger.    This  only  in- 
creases your  uncharitableness.      But  just  the  contrary  is 
needful ;  the  angrier  you  are,  the  more  carefully  you  must 
search  for  that  which  is  good  in  him  who  is  the  object  of 
your  anger,  and  if  you  find  any  good  in  him  and  learn  to 
love  him,  you  will  not  only  relieve  your  heart  but  experience 
a  peculiar  joy. 

7.  We  pity  a  man  who  is  ill  clad,  cold  and  starving, 
but  how  much  more  is  a  man  to  be  pitied  if  he  is  a  deceiver, 
a  drunkard,  a  thief,  a  robber,  a  murderer?    The  first  man 
is  suffering  in  his  body,  but  the  other  in  that  which  is  the 
most  precious  possession  in  the  world — his  soul. 

It  is  well  to  pity  the  poor  and  help  them,  but  it  is  still 
better  not  to  judge  the  vicious,  but  to  pity  and  help  them 
also. 

8.  If  you   would   reproach   a  man    for   unreasonable 
actions  do  not  call  his  acts  or  words  stupid,  do  not  think  or 
say  that  what  he  has  done  or  said  is  senseless.    On  the  con- 
trary, always  assume  that  what  he  had  meant  to  do  or  say 
was  reasonable  and  endeavor  to  find  it  so.    It  is  well  to  dis- 
cover those  erroneous  ideas  which  have  deceived  the  man 
and  demonstrate  them  to  him  so  that  he  may  decide  by  the 
exercise  of  his  own  reason  that  he  was  in  error.    It  is  only 
by  reason  that  we  can  convince  a  man.     And  equally  so  we 
can  convince  a  man  of  the  immorality  of  his  conduct  by  an 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  lllFE  179 

appeal  to  his  sense  of  morality.     Do  not  assume  that  the 
most  immoral  man  could  not  become  a  free  and  moral  being. 

Kant. 

9.  If  you  are  angry  with  a  man  because  he  did  that 
which  you  consider  evil,  try  and  learn  why  this  man  did 
that  which  you  consider  evil.  And  as  soon  as  you  under- 
stand this,  you  will  find  yourself  unable  to  be  angry  with 
the  man,  just  as  one  can  not  be  angry  with  a  stone  for  fall- 
ing to  the  ground  instead  of  upwards. 

V. 

The  Need  of  Love  for  Association  with  People 

1.  In  order  that  association  with  men  be  not  painful  to 
them  and  to  yourself,  do  not  seek  to  associate  with  them  if 
you  feel  no  love  towards  them. 

2.  Only  inanimate  objects  can  be  treated  without  love; 
one  can  hew  down  trees,  make  brick,  and  forge  iron  with- 
out love,  but  men  cannot  be  handled  without  love,  any 
more  than  bees  can  be  handled  without  caution.    The  nature 
of  the  bees  is  such  that  if  you  treat  them  without  caution 
you  injure  both  the  bees  and  yourself.    It  is  the  same  with 
people. 

If  you  feel  no  love  towards  people,  sit  still,  busy  your- 
self with  inanimate  things,  but  leave  people  alone.  If  you 
treat  people  without  love,  before  long  you  will  be  acting 
like  a  beast  and  not  like  a  human  being,  and  you  will  harm 
both  yourself  and  the  people. 

3.  If  you   have  been  offended  by  a  man,   you   may 
either  retaliate  like  a  dog,  or  a  cow  or  a  horse ;  that  is  you 
may  run  away,  if  the  offender  be  stronger  than  you,  or 
growl  and  kick ;  or  you  may  act  like  a  rational  human  being 
and  say  to  yourself :    "  This  man  has  offended  me,  that  is 


180  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

his  business,  but  my  business  is  to  do  that  which  I  consider 
good,  to  do  unto  him  as  I  would  have  him  do  unto  me." 

4.  When  you  see  people  dissatisfied  with  everything, 
and  condemning  everything,  you  feel  like  saying:     "It  is 
not  the  purpose  of  your  life  to  realize  all  the  absurdity  of 
life,  to  condemn  it,  to  be  angry  for  a  while  and  then  die. 
That  cannot  be.    Think  a  little.    Your  business  is  not  to  be 
angry,  nor  to  condemn,  but  to  labor  in  order  to  correct  the 
evil  that  you  see.     But  the  evil  that  you  see  cannot  be  re- 
moved by  your  irritation,  but  only  by  the  exercise  of  that 
good  will  to  all  men  which  dwells  in  you,  and  which  you 
will  feel  the  moment  you  refrain  from  drowning  its  voice." 

5.  Acquire  the  habit  of  being  dissatisfied  with  others 
only  in  the  same  way  as  you  are  dissatisfied  with  yourself. 
When  you  are  dissatisfied  with  yourself,  you  are  dissatisfied 
with  your  actions,  not  with  your  soul.    The  same  way  with 
your  fellow  man,  judge  his  actions,  but  love  him. 

6.  In  order  not  to  do  any  evil  to  your  fellow  man,  in 
order  to  love  him,  train  yourself  never  to  say  anything  bad 
either  to  him  or  of  him,  and  in  order  to  train  yourself  to  do 
this,  train  yourself  not  to  think  anything  evil  of  him,  not  to 
let  a  feeling  of  uncharitableness  even  enter  your  thoughts. 

7.  Can  you  be  angry  with  a  man  for  having  cankering 
sores?    It  is  not  his  fault  that  the  sight  of  his  sores  annoys 
you.    Even  so  act  towards  the  faults  of  other  people. 

But  you  might  say  that  a  man  has  his  reason  which 
should  help  him  to  recognize  his  faults  and  to  correct  them. 
This  is  true.  But  you  also  are  endowed  with  reason  and  you 
can  form  the  judgment  that  you  must  not  be  angry  with  a 
man  because  of  his  faults,  but  rather  endeavor  by  rational 
and  kindly  treatment,  without  anger,  impatience  or  haughti- 
ness, to  awaken  his  conscience. 

8.  There  are  men  who  love  to  be  angry.    They  are  al- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  181 

ways  busy  with  something  and  always  pleased  with  an  op- 
portunity to  disconcert  and  to  insult  anyone  who  addresses 
them.  Such  men  are  apt  to  be  very  disagreeable.  But  you 
must  remember  that  they  are  very  unfortunate,  strangers  to 
the  joy  of  a  good  disposition,  and  they  should  not  be  cen- 
sured, but  pitied. 

9.  Nothing  can  soften  wrath,  even  justified  wrath,  as 
quickly  as  to  remark  to  the  angry  person  about  the  object 
of  his  anger:     "He  is  so  unfortunate."     Even  as  the  rain 
puts  out  the  flames,  so  compassion  acts  upon  wrath. 

10.  If  a  man  who  means  to  do  harm  to  his  enemy  only 
attempted  to  imagine  vividly  that  he  had  already  done  as  he 
desired,  and  saw  his  enemy  suffering  in  his  body  or  in  his 
spirit  from  wounds,  illness,  humiliation  or  poverty;  if  a 
man  only  attempted  to  imagine  this  and  realized  that  all  this 
evil  was  the  work  of  his  hands,  the  meanest  man  would 
cease  from  wrath  after  such  vivid  realization  of  his  enemy's 
sufferings.  Schopenhauer. 

11.  God  guard  you  from  pretending  to  love  and  to 
have  compassion  if  you  feel  no  love  or  compassion.     This 
is  worse  than  hatred.    But  may  God  preserve  you  from  fail- 
ing to  catch  and  to  keep  alive  the  spark  of  compassion  and 
divine  love  to  your  enemy  when  God  sends  it  to  you.    There 
is  nothing  more  precious  than  that. 

VI. 
Combating  the  Sin  of  Uncharitableness 

1.  When  I  am  condemned,  it  is  disagreeable  and  pain- 
ful to  me.  How  to  be  relieved  of  this  feeling?  First  of  all 
by  humility :  If  you  know  your  weakness  you  will  not  be 
angry  when  others  point  it  out.  It  is  unkind  of  them,  but 


182  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

they  are  right.  Then  by  the  exercise  of  reason;  inasmuch 
as  in  the  end  you  remain  just  as  you  were,  only  if  you  had 
too  high  an  opinion  of  yourself,  you  may  have  to  change  it. 
But  principally  by  forgiveness.  There  is  only  one  way  to 
keep  from  hating  those  who  injure  us, — it  is  by  doing  good 
to  them;  though  you  may  not  be  able  to  change  them,  you 
can  curb  yourself.  Amiel. 

2.  If  you  are  a  little  angry,  count  up  to  ten  before  you 
do  or  say  anything.    If  you  are  very  angry  count  up  to  one 
hundred.    If  you  think  of  this  when  you  are  angry,  you  will 
not  need  to  count  at  all. 

3.  The  best  beverage  in  the  world  is  when  you  have  an 
angry  word  on  your  very  tongue,  not  to  say  it,  but  to  gulp 
it  down.  Mohammed. 

4.  The  more  a  man  lives  for  his  soul,  the  less  annoy- 
ance he  has  in  all  his  dealings,  and  the  less  occasion  for 
wrath. 

5.  Think  well  and  comprehend  that  every  man  acts  as 
it  seems  best  to  him.    If  you  will  always  think  of  this,  you 
will  never  be  angry  with  anyone,  you  will  never  reproach  or 
scold  anyone,  for  if  it  be  better  for  another  man  to  do  that 
which  displeases  you,  he  is  right  and  cannot  do  otherwise. 
But  if  he  is  in  error  and  does  that  which  is  worse  for  him- 
self, he  may  be  pitied,  but  you  should  not  be  angry  with 
him-  Epictetus. 

6.  A  deep  river  will  not  be  muddied  if  you  fling  a 
stone  into  it.     Even  so  with  man.     If  a  man  is  stirred  up 
over  insults  he  is  not  a  river,  but  a  puddle. 

7.  Let  us  remember  that  we  shall  all  return  to  the  soil, 
and  let  us  be  meek  and  gentle.  Saadi. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  183 

VII. 

Uncharitableness  Harms  Most  of  All  Him  Who 
Harbors  It 

1.  No  matter  how  much  harm  anger  causes  to  others, 
it  is  most  harmful  to  him  who  harbors  it.     And  anger  is 
always  more  harmful  than  that  which  has  provoked  it. 

2.  There  are  people  who  love  to  be  angry,  and  rage 
and  injure  others  without  cause.    We  can  understand  why 
a  miser  injures  other  people.    He  desires  to  possess  himself 
of  that  which  belongs  to  others,  in  order  to  enrich  himself. 
He  injures  people  for  his  own  material  benefit.    But  a  mean 
man  injures  others  without  any  profit  for  himself.     What 
madness !  Socrates. 

3.  To  do  no  harm  even  to  enemies — herein  is  great 
virtue. 

He  must  certainly  perish  who  encompasses  the  ruin  of 
another.  Do  no  evil.  Poverty  is  no  justification  for  evil. 
If  you  commit  evil,  you  will  be  still  more  impoverished. 

Men  may  escape  the  effects  of  the  malice  of  their 
enemies,  but  can  never  escape  the  consequences  of  their  own 
sins.  This  shadow  will  haunt  their  footsteps  until  it  ruins 
them. 

He  who  would  not  live  in  grief  and  sorrows,  let  him  do 
no  harm  to  others. 

If  a  man  loves  himself,  let  him  do  no  evil  no  matter 
how  slight  it  be.  Hindu  wisdom. 

4.  To  be  virtuous  is  to  be  free  in  spirit.    Men  always 
angry  with  others,  always  fearing  something  and  yielding  to 
passions  cannot  be  free  in  spirit.     He  who  is  not  free  in 
spirit,  having  eyes  cannot  see,  having  ears  cannot  hear,  eat- 
ing cannot  taste.  Confucius. 


184  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

5.  You  think  that  the  object  of  your  wrath  is  your 
enemy,  yet  your  own  wrath  which  has  entered  your  heart  is 
your  principal  enemy.     Therefore  make  peace  with  your 
enemy  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  put  out  of  your  heart 
that  painful  sentiment. 

6.  Drop  by  drop  a  pail  is  filled ;  even  so  man  is  filled 
with  malice  though  he  accumulate  it  little  by  little,  if  he 
permits  himself  to  be  angry  with  others.     Evil  returns  to 
him  who  launches  it  even  as  dust  thrown  against  the  wind. 

Neither  in  Heaven  nor  in  the  sea,  neither  in  the  bowels 
of  the  mountains  nor  anywhere  in  the  world  is  there  a  spot 
where  a  man  can  rid  himself  of  the  malice  that  is  in  his 
heart.  Remember  this.  Jamapada. 

7.  In  the  Hindu  law  it  is  said :  as  surely  as  it  is  cold  in 
the  winter  time  and  warm  in  the  summer  season,  even  as 
surely  it  is  evil  with  the  evil  man,  and  good  with  the  good 
man.    Let  no  one  engage  in  a  quarrel,  though  he  be  offended 
and  suffer,  let  no  one  give  offense  in  word,  deed  or  thought. 
All  these  things  rob  a  man  of  his  happiness. 

8.  If  I  know  that  anger  robs  me  of  true  happiness,  1 
can  no  longer  consciously  engage  in  enmities  with  others  as 
I  was  wont  to  do,  or  glory  in  my  anger,  boast  of  it,  puff  it  up, 
and  find  excuses  for  it,  count  myself  important  and  others 
insignificant,  lost  or  mad;  I  cannot — at  the  first  intimation 
of  rising  anger — do  otherwise  but  feel  that  I  alone  am  to 
blame  or  refrain  from  seeking  peace  with  those  who  are 
estranged  from  me. 

But  this  is  not  sufficient.  If  I  know  now  that  anger  is 
evil  for  my  soul,  I  also  know  that  which  misleads  me  into 
this  evil.  And  that  is  my  forgetting  that  the  same  spirit 
dwells  in  others  as  it  does  in  me.  I  see  now  that  this  sepa- 
rateness  from  people,  this  recognition  of  self  as  being  above 
others  is  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  human  -enmity.  Re- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  185 

membering  my  past  life  I  see  that  I  never  permitted  my 
anger  to  rise  against  those  who  I  considered  to  be 
above  myself,  and  that  I  never  offended  such  people.  But 
the  slightest  act  of  a  man  whom  I  believed  to  be  beneath  me, 
if  it  displeased  me,  aroused  my  anger  and  evoked  an  insult 
on  my  part,  and  the  higher  I  felt  myself  above  him,  the 
more  lightly  I  insulted  him ;  sometimes  the  mere  thought  of 
a  man's  inferior  position  led  me  to  insult  him. 

9.  One  winter  time  Francis  of  Assisi  accompanied  by 
his  brother  Leo,  journeyed  from  Perugia  to  Porcionculo ;  it 
was  very  cold  and  they  were  shivering.  Francis  called  to 
Leo  who  was  walking  ahead  of  him  and  said:  "Brother 
Leo,  God  grant  that  our  brothers  might  throughout  the  earth 
set  the  exemple  of  holy  life ;  but  make  a  note  that  perfect  joy 
is  not  yet  in  that." 

And  a  little  while  further  Francis  called  again  to  Leo 
and  said : 

"Also  make  note,  brother  Leo,  that  if  our  brothers  heal 
the  sick,  drive  out  devils,  give  sight  to  the  blind  or  bring 
back  to  life  men  four  days  in  the  grave,  make  note  that 
neither  therein  is  yet  perfect  joy." 

And  still  a  little  distance  further  Francis  again  called 
to  Leo  and  said :  "And  make  note  once  more,  brother  Leo, 
lamb  of  God,  that  if  we  learned  to  speak  with  the  tongues  of 
angels,  if  we  comprehended  the  course  of  the  stars,  and  if 
the  treasures  of  the  earth  were  revealed  to  us  and  we  had 
opened  to  us  all  the  mysteries  of  the  life  of  birds,  fishes,  of 
all  animals,  people,  trees,  rocks  and  waters,  make  note  that 
even  therein  would  not  be  perfect  joy." 


PRIDE 


PRIDE 

What  makes  it  so  difficult  to  find  deliverance  from  sins 
is  mainly  the  fact  that  they  find  support  in  errors.  Pride  is 
one  of  such  errors. 

I. 

The  Senseless  Folly  of  Pride 

1.  Proud  people  are  so  busy  teaching  others  that  they 
have   no   time   to   give   thought   to    themselves,   and   why 
should  they?     They  are  good  as  they  are,  anyway,  and 
therefore  the  more  they  teach  others,  the  lower  they  sink 
themselves. 

2.  Even  as  man  cannot  lift  himself  up,  neither  can  man 
exalt  himself. 

3.  The  meanness  of  pride  is  in  the  fact  that  people  are 
proud  of  the  things  of  which  they  should  be  ashamed ; 
riches,  glory  and  honors. 

4.  If  you  are  stronger,  wealthier,  more  learned  than 
others,  strive  to  serve  others  with  the  over-abundance  you 
have  as  compared  with  them.    If  you  are  stronger,  aid  the 
weak ;  if  you  are  more  learned,  help  the  ignorant ;  if  you  are 
wealthier,  help  the  poor.     But  proud  people  have  different 
ideas.    They  think  that  if  they  have  what  others  lack,  they 
need  not  share  it  with  them,  but  only  parade  it  before  them. 

5.  It  is  bad  if  a  man  is  angry  with  his  brothers  instead 
of  loving  them.    But  it  is  much-  worse  if  a  man  makes  him- 
self believe  that  he  is  not  the  same  kind  of  a  man  as  other 
men,  but  superior  to  other  people,  and  can  therefore  treat 
them  otherwise  than  he  would  have  them  treat  him. 

6.  It  is  foolish  for  people  to  be  proud  of  their  face  or 
of  their  body,  but  it  is  still  greater  folly  to  be  proud  of  their 


190  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

parents,  ancestors  and  friends,  of  their  estate  and  of  their 
race. 

The  major  portion  of  evil  on  earth  is  due  to  this  fool- 
ish price.  It  is  the  cause  of  quarrels  between  men  and  men, 
families  and  families,  and  the  cause  of  wars  between  na- 
tions. 

7.  A  man  should  not  count  himself  wiser,  nobler  or 
better  than  other  people,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  be- 
cause no  man  can  properly  gauge  his  own  mind  or  his  vir- 
tues, and  still  less  the  true  value  of  the  mind  and  of  the  vir- 
tues of  other  people. 

8.  Proud  people  consider  themselves  alone  to  be  better 
and  higher  than  others.    But  other  proud  people  differ  with 
them  and  count  themselves  still  better.     Still  this  fails  to 
disconcert  the  proud ;  they  are  convinced  that  all  those  who 
count  themselves  above  them  are  in  error,  and  that  they 
alone  are  correct. 

9.  It  is  amusing  to  see  two  proud  men  meet,  each  be- 
lieving himself  to  be  superior  to  everybody  else  on  earth. 

It  is  amusing  to  an  outsider,  but  the  two  proud  men  are 
not  amused ;  they  hate  one  another  and  are  much  perturbed. 

10.  Folly  may  exist  apart  from  pride,  but  pride  never 
apart  from  folly. 

11.  Learn  from  water  in  the  depths  of  the  sea  and  in 
mountain  gorges;   noisy  are  the  shallow  brooks,  but  the 
shoreless  sea  is  silent  and  barely  moves. 

Buddhist  wisdom. 

12.  The  lighter  and  less  dense  a  substance  the  more 
space  it  occupies.    Even  so  with  pride. 

13.  A  bad  wheel  makes  more  noise,  an  empty  ear  of 
corn  is  taller.    Even  so  a  bad  and  shallow  man. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  191 

14.  The  more  self-satisfied  a  man,  the  less  ground  is 
there  in  him  for  satisfaction. 

15.  A  proud  man  is  as  though  covered  with  a  coating 
of  ice.     No  good  sentiment  can  break  through  this  coating. 

16.  It  is  easier  to  enlighten  the  most  ignorant  man 
than  a  proud  man. 

17.  If  the  proud  could  only  know  what  other  people 
who  make  use  of  their  pride  for  personal  gain  think  of  them 
they  would  cease  to  be  proud. 

18.  The  prouder  a  man,  the  more  foolish  is  he  thought 
by  those  who  make  use  of  his  pride,  nor  are  they  mistaken, 
because  though  they  most  flagrantly  deceive  him,  he  fails 
to  see  through  it.    Pride  is  invariably  foolish. 

II. 

National  Pride 

1.  To   count   oneself   better   than   everybody   else    is 
wrong  and  foolish.    We  all  know  this.    To  count  one's  fam- 
ily better  than  all  others  is  still  more  wrong  and  foolish, 
though  we  frequently  fail  to  recognize  this,  and  see  even 
some  special  merit  in  it.     But  to  count  one's  nation  better 
than  all  others,  is  the  greatest  possible  folly.    Yet  not  only 
do  the  people  fail  to  consider  this  wrong,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  considered  a  great  virtue. 

2.  The  beginning  of  pride  is  in  loving  self  alone.    Pride 
is  unrestrained  self-love. 

3.  Men  are  an  enmity  one  with  another,  though  they 
know  that  it  is  wrong.    And  in  order  to  deceive  themselves 
and  to  drown  the  voice  of  their  conscience  they  invent  ex- 
cuses for  their  hostility.    One  of  such  excuses  is  that  I  am 
better  than  others  and  that  the  others  are  unable  to  under- 
stand this,  and  for  this  reason  I  have  the  right  to  be  at  odds 
with  them;  another  excuse  is  that  my  family  is  better  than 


192  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

theirs :  the  third  is  that  my  class  is  better  than  other  classes ; 
and  the  fourth  that  my  nation  is  better  than  all  other  na- 
tions. 

Nothing  divides  people  so  much  as  pride — personal 
pride,  family  pride,  class  pride  and  national  pride. 

4.  Proud  people  are  not  content  to  count  their  own 
persons  superior  to  all  others,  they  even  count  their  nation 
superior  to  other  nations ;  as  the  Germans  count  the  German 
nation,  the  Russians  the  Russian  nation,  the  Poles  the  Polish 
nation,  the  Jews  the  Jewish  nation.  And  harmful  as  is  the 
pride  of  an  individual,  national  pride  is  far  more  harmful. 
Millions  upon  millions  of  men  perished  from  it  in  the  past 
and  are  still  perishing. 

III. 

Man  Has  No  Rational  Grounds  for  Exalting  Himself 

Above  Others,  as  the  Same  Spirit  of  God 

Dwells  in  All  People 

1.  Man  counts  himself  better  than  other  people  only  if 
he  lives  the  life  of  the  body.     One  body  may  be  stronger, 
larger,  better  than  another,  but  if  a  man  lives  the  life  of  the 
spirit,  he  cannot  count  himself  better  than  others,  for  the 
same  soul  dwells  in  all  men. 

2.  People     have    titles :     Some    "Your    Excellency," 
others  "Your   Serene   Highness,"    still    others   "Esquire," 
"Sir,"  "Your  Worship,"  but  there  is  only  one  title  appro- 
priate to  all  and  giving  no  offense.     This  title  is :  Brother, 
sister. 

And  this  title  is  good  for  the  reason  that  it  reminds  us 
of  the  one  Father  in  whom  we  are  all  brothers  and  sisters. 

3.  Men  consider  some  people  superior  to  themselves, 
others  beneath  themselves.     One  need  only  remember  that 
the  same  spirit  dwells  in  all  men  to  see  how  unjust  this  is. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  193 

4.  A  man  is  correct  in  thinking  that  there  is  no  one  in 
the  world  above  him ;  but  he  is  wrong  to  think  that  there  is 
even  one  man  beneath  him. 

5.  It  is  well  for  man  to  respect  himself  because  the 
spirit  of  God  dwells  in  him.     But  woe  to  a  man  if  he  is 
proud  of  that  which  is  merely  human  in  him :  his  mind,  his 
learning,  honor,  wealth  or  good  deeds. 

6.  A  man  is  good  if  he  holds  high  his  divine  spiritual 
I.    But  if  he  seeks  to  exalt  his  animal,  vain,  ambitious  indi- 
vidual I  above  all  others,  he  is  abominable. 

7.  If  a  man  is  proud  of  external  distinctions  he  merely 
shows  that  he  does  not  appreciate  his '  inner  worth  com- 
pared with  which  all  outward  distinctions  are  as  candles 
compared  with  the  sun. 

8.  One  man  cannot  exalt  himself  above  others.     He 
cannot  do  so  because  the  most  valuable  thing  in  man  is  his 
soul,  and  no  one  knows  the  value  of  the  soul  but  God. 

9.  Pride  is  something  entirely  different  from  a  con- 
sciousness of  human  dignity.     Pride  increases  with   false 
honors  and  false  popular  adulations,  but  the  consciousness 
of  human   dignity  increases  on   the   contrary  with   unde- 
served humiliation  and  condemnation. 

IV. 

Effects  of  the  Error  of  Pride 

1.  Pride  defends  not  only  itself  but  all  the  other  sins 
of  man.    In  exalting  himself  man  loses  sight  of  his  sin,  and 
his  sins  become  a  part  of  him. 

2.  As  the  tall  weeds  that  grow  in  the  wheat  field  draw 
all  the  moisture  and  all  the  juices  from  the  soil  and  shut  off 
the  grain  from  the  sun,  even  so  pride  monopolizes  all  the 
strength  of  man  and  shuts  him  off  from  the  light  of  truth. 


194  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

3.  The  consciousness  of  sin  is  often  more  useful  to 
man  than  good  deeds ;  the  consciousness  of  sin  makes  man 
humble,  while  a  good  deed  frequently  puffs  up  his  pride. 

Baxter. 

4.  Many  are  the  penalties  of  pride,  but  the  principal 
and  the  hardest  is  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  all  their  merits 
and  in  spite  of  all  their  endeavors,  people  do  not  love  those 
that  are  proud. 

5.  No  sooner  have  I  exulted  over  myself,  saying  how 
good  am  I,  lo !  I  am  in  the  ditch. 

6.  If  a  man  is  proud  he  holds  himself  aloof  from  others 
and  thus  deprives  himself  of  the  greatest  pleasure  in  life,  a 
free  and  joyful  association  with  all  people. 

7.  A  proud  man  fears  all  criticism.    And  his  fear  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  his  grandeur  is  unstable,  because  it  holds 
only  until  a  tiny  hole  is  pricked  in  his  bubble. 

8.  Pride  would  be  intelligible  if  it  pleased  people  and 
attracted  them.    But  there  is  no  more  repulsive  characteris- 
tic than  pride.    And  yet  people  continue  to  cultivate  pride. 

9.  Self-assurance  at  first  puzzles  people.    And  for  a 
time   they  ascribe  to  a   self-assured  man  the   importance 
which  he  attributes  to  himself.    But  they  do  not  stay  puzzled 
for  any  length  of  time.     They  are  soon  disenchanted,  and 
repay  with  scorn  for  their  disappointing  experience. 

10.  Man  knows  that  he  lives  an  evil  life,  but  instead 
of  changing  it  for  the  better,  he  endeavors  to  convince  him- 
self that  he  is  not  the  same  kind  of  a  man  as  other  people, 
but  is  something  superior  to  all  others,  and  for  this  reason 
he  must  live  exactly  as  he  is  living.    Thus  it  comes  that  if 
men  live  an  evil  life  they  are  apt  to  be  proud  as  well. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  195 

V. 

Combating  the  Error  of  Pride 

1.  There  would  be  much  less  evil  in  the  world  but  for 
pride.     How  can  we  deliver  ourselves  from  this  cause  of 
evil  ?    To  deliver  ourselves  from  this  evil  we  have  but  one 
method — for  each  to  labor  with  his  own  self.    The  errors  of 
pride  will  be  destroyed  only  when  we  destroy  within  our- 
selves this  deep  root  of  evil.     While  it  lives  in  our  heart, 
how  can  we  hope  that  it  will  die  in  the  hearts  of  others? 
Therefore  one  thing  which  we  can  do  for  our  own  happi- 
ness and  that  of  others  is  to  destroy  in  our  hearts  this  source 
of  evil  from  which  the  world  suffers.     No  improvement  is 
possible  until  each  one  of  us  commences  to  improve  himself. 

Lamenais. 

2.  It  is  very  difficult  to  destroy  human  pride;  you 
have  hardly  patched  up  one  hole  when  you  find  it  peering 
out  of  another,  and  when  you  close  that,  it  comes  out  of  a 
fresh  one,  and  so  on.  Lichtenbcrg. 

3.  The  sin  of  pride  may  be  destroyed  only  by  the 
recognition  of  the  oneness  of  the  spirit  that  dwells  in  all 
men.     Having  realized  this,  a  man  can  no  longer  count 
either  himself  or  his  family  or  even  his  nation  as  better  and 
higher  than  all  others. 

4.  It  is  only  then  easy  to  live  with  a  man  when  you 
neither  regard  him  as  better  or  higher  than  yourself  nor 
yourself  as  better  or  higher  than  he. 

5.  The  main  purpose  of  life  is  to  improve  your  soul. 
But  the  proud  man  always  considers  himself  perfectly  good. 
This  is  what  makes  pride  so  harmful.    It  hinders  man  from 
attending  to  the  principal  purpose  of  life,  namely  making 
ourself  better. 


196  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

6.  Living  for  the  soul  is  different  from  the  worldly 
life  in  that  he  who  lives  for  the  soul  cannot  be  satisfied 
with  himself  no  matter  how  much  good  he  accomplishes ;  he 
believes  that  he  has  only  done  his  duty,  and  that  far  from 
completely,  and  therefore  can  only  criticise  himself,  but  by 
no  means  be  proud  or  be  self-satisfied. 

7.  "But  he  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  your 
servant ;  for  whosoever  shall  exalt  himself,  shall  be  abashed 
and  he  that  shall  humble  himself  shall  be  exalted." 

Matthew,  xxiii,  11-12. 

He  who  exalts  himself  in  the  opinion  of  men  will  be 
abased,  because  he  that  is  accounted  good,  wise  and  kind, 
will  not  strive  to  be  better,  wiser  and  kindlier. 

But  he  who  humbles  himself  shall  be  exalted,  because 
he  who  accounts  himself  bad,  will  strive  to  be  better,  kind- 
lier, more  reasonable. 

Proud  people  are  as  pedestrians  walking  on  stilts  in- 
stead of  walking  on  foot.  They  are  higher  and  the  mud 
does  not  reach  up  to  them  and  they  take  larger  steps,  but 
the  trouble  is  that  you  cannot  go  very  far  on  stilts  and  the 
chances  are  you  will  fall  into  mud  and  people  will  laugh  at 
you. 

Even  so  it  is  with  proud  people.  They  are  left  behind 
by  people  who  use  no  stilts  to  make  themselves  artificially 
taller,  and  they  frequently  fall  into  the  mire  and  become  an 
object  of  popular  ridicule, 


INEQUALITY 


INEQUALITY 

The  basis  of  human  life  is  the  spirit  of  God  that 
dwells  in  man,  which  is  one  and  the  same  in  all  people. 
Therefore  men  can  not  be  otherwise  than  all  equal  among 
themselves. 

I. 
The  Substance  of  the  Error  of  Inequality 

1.  In  olden  times  people  believed  that  men  were  born 
of  various  races,  black  and  white,  having  descended  from 
Ham  and  Japhet,  and  that  some  were  meant  to  be  masters 
and  others  to  be  slaves.     People  acknowledge  this  division 
of  the  human  race  into  masters  and  slaves  because  they 
believed  that  this  division  was  instituted  by  God.     This 
crude  and  ruinous  superstition  still  persists  though  in  an- 
other  form. 

2.  We  need  only  glance  at  the  life  of  Christian  na- 
tions divided  into  people  who  pass  their  lives  in  stupefying, 
murderous,  unnecessary  toil,  and  others  who  are  steeped 
in  idleness  and  all  sorts  of  pleasures,  to  be  amazed  at  the 
degree  of  inequality  attained  by  the  people  professing  the 
Christian  faith,  and  particularly  at  the  deceitful  preaching 
of  equality,  while  we  maintain  an  order  of  life  which  is 
striking  in  its  cruel  and  manifest  inequality. 

3.  One  of  the  oldest  and  most  profound  of  all  faiths 
is  the  faith  of  the  Hindus.  The  reason  that  it  has  never 
become  universal  faith  and  has  failed  to  yield  such  fruit  in 
the  life  of  men  as  it  should  have  yielded,  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  its  teachers  acknowledged  men  to  be  unequal  and 
divided   them   into   castes.      People   acknowledging   them- 
selves unequal  cannot  have  a  true  religion. 


200  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

4.  One  can  understand  people  considering  themselves 
unequal   because   one  has   a   stronger  body   than   another 
or  is  more  alert,  or  knows  more,  or  is  kindlier  than  an- 
other.    But  these  are  not  the  usual  reasons  why  some  men 
are  accounted   higher  than   others.     They   are   accounted 
unequal   because   one    is   named   a    count   and   another   a 
peasant,  because  one  wears  expensive  clothes  and  the  other 
sandals. 

5.  Men  of  our  time  realize  already  that  the  inequality 
of  people  is  a  superstition  and  in  their  hearts  they  con- 
demn it.     But  those  who  profit  by  this  inequality  cannot 
make  up  their  minds  to  give  it  up,  while  those  who  suffer 
by  it  do  not  know  how  to  destroy  it. 

6.  Men  have  fallen  into  the  habit  of  dividing  people 
in  their  minds  into  distinguished  and  obscure,  noble  and 
common,  educated  and  uneducated,  and  they  have  grown 
so  accustomed  to  this  division  that  they  really  believe  that 
some  people  are  superior  to  others,  that  some  people  are 
to  be  more  esteemed  than  others  because  they  are  classed 
by  people  in  one  group,  while  other  people  are  classed  in 
another  group. 

7.  The  mere  custom  among  rich  men  of  addressing 
some  people  with  familiarity  and  others  with  respect,  of 
saluting   some    with   a    handshake   and    withholding   their 
hand   from  others,  of  inviting  some  into  their   reception 
room  and  receiving  others  in  the  anteroom,  shows  how  far 
they  are  from  a  recognition  of  the  equality  of  all  people. 

8.  But   for  the  superstition  of   inequality  men  could 
never  commit  all  those  misdeeds  which  they  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  committing  and  still  unceasingly  commit  simply 
because  they  will  not  admit  all  men  to  be  equal. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  201 

II. 

Excuses  for  Inequality 

1.  Nothing  lends  such  a  degree  of  assurance  in  the 
commission  of  evil  acts  as  association,  that  is  the  combin- 
ing of  a  few  people  who  have  separated  themselves  from 
the  rest  into  a  social  group. 

2.  The  blame  for  the  inequality  of  people  rests  not 
so  much  on  those  who  aggrandize  themselves  as  upon  those 
who  admit  their  own  inferiority  before  men  who  aggrand- 
ize themselves. 

3.  We   marvel   at   the   remoteness   of   what   is  now 
termed  Christianity  from  the  preaching  of  Jesus,  and  at 
the   remoteness  of  our  life   from   Christianity.     Could   it 
be  otherwise  with  a  doctrine  teaching  people  true  equality, 
teaching  that  all  men  are  the  sons  of  God,  that  all  men  are 
brethren,  that  the  life  of  all  is  equally  sacred, — teaching 
this  in  the  midst  of  people  who  believe  that  God  divides 
men   into  masters   and   slaves,   believers   and   unbelievers, 
rich  and  poor.    Men  accepting  the  teaching  of  Christ  under 
these  conditions  could  do  only  one  of  two  things:  either 
change  their  entire  order  of  life  completely,  or  corrupt  the 
doctrine.     They  have  chosen  the  latter. 

III. 

All  Men  are  Brethren 

1.  It  is  foolish  for  one  man  to  count  himself  better 
than  others;  it  is  still  more  foolish  for  a  whole  nation  to 
count  itself  better  than  others.     Yet  every  nation,  the  ma- 
jority of  people   in  every  nation,   lives  in  this  dreadful, 
absurd   and   harmful   superstition. 

2.  A  Jew,  a  Greek,  a  Roman  might  well  defend  the 
independence  of  his  own  nation  by  killing,  and  seek  by 


202  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

killing  also  to  subjugate  other  nations,  firmly  convinced, 
as  each  of  them  was,  that  his  was  the  one  true,  good, 
God-loved  nation,  while  the  others  were  Philistines  or 
barbarians.  The  people  in  the  Middle  Ages  could  hold 
similar  beliefs,  or  even  recently,  at  the  end  of  the  last 
century.  But  we  can  no  longer  believe  it. 

3.  The  man  who  understands  the  meaning  and  the 
purpose  of  life  can  not  but  feel  his  equality  and  brother- 
hood with  men  not  only  of  his  own,  but  of  all  nations. 

4.  Every  man,  before  he  is  an  Austrian,  a  Serb,  a 
Turk  or  a  Chinaman,  is  a  man,  that  is  a  rational  loving 
being,  whose  calling  is  to  fulfill  his  purpose  as  man  in  the 
short  span  of  time  allotted  to  him  in  this  world.     And  this 
purpose  is  one  and  a  very  definite  one;  to  love  all  people. 

5.  A  child  meets  another  child,  irrespective  of  class, 
faith   and  nationality,   with  the   same   friendly   smile   ex- 
pressive of  gladness.    But  an  adult,  who  ought  to  be  more 
sensible  than  a  child,  before  meeting  a  man  wonders  to 
what  class,    faith   or  nationality  he  belongs,   and  adjusts 
his  attitude  towards  him  in  accordance  with  his  class,  faith 
or  nationality.     No  wonder  Christ  said :  "be  ye  even  as 
little  children." 

6.  Christ  revealed  to  people  that  the  division  between 
your  own  and  foreign  nations  is  a  delusion  and  an  evil. 
And  realizing  this  a  Christian  cannot  harbor  feelings  of 
ill  will  towards  foreign  nations,  nor  can  he  as  formerly, 
excuse   cruel   acts   against   foreign   nations   with   the   plea 
thc-t  other  nations  are  worse  than  his.     The  Christian  can 
not  help  knowing  that   this   distinction   between  his   and 
other  nations  is  an  evil,  that  this  distinction  is  an  error, 
and  therefore  he  can  no  longer,  as  formerly,  consciously 
serve  this  error. 

The  Christian  can  not  but  know  that  his  happiness 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  203 

is  interwoven  not  only  with  the  happiness  of  his  own  na- 
tion, but  with  that  of  all  the  people  in  the  world.  He 
knows  that  his  union  with  all  the  people  in  the  world  can- 
not be  interrupted  by  frontier  lines  or  proclamations  about 
belonging  to  this  or  that  nation.  He  knows  that  all  people 
everywhere  are  brothers  and  therefore  equal. 

IV. 
All  Men  are  Equal 

1.  Equality  is  the  recognition  that  all  the  people  in 
the  world  have  the  equal  right  to  enjoy  all  the  natural  bless- 
ings of  the  world,  equal  right  to  the  blessings  proceeding 
from  social  life,  and  equal  right  to  the  respect  of  their 
human  personality. 

2.  The  law  of  the  equality  of  men  embraces  all  moral 
laws;  it  is  the  point  which  no  laws  can  reach,  but  which 
all  of  them  strive  to  approach.  £   Carpenter. 

3.  The  real  "I"  of  a  man  is  spiritual.     And  this  "I" 
is  the  same  in  all.     How  then  can  men  be  unequal? 

4.  "Then  came  to  him  his  Mother  and  his  brethren, 
and  could  not  come  at  him  for  the  press. 

And  it  was  told  him  by  certain,  which  said,  Thy 
Mother  and  thy  brethren  stand  without,  desiring  to  see  thee. 

And  he  answered  and  said  unto  them,  My  Mother  and 
my  brethren  are  these  which  hear  the  world  of  God  and 
do  it."  The  words  of  Jesus  mean  that  a  rational  man, 
realizing  his  calling,  can  not  make  distinctions  between 
people  nor  recognize  the  superiority  of  any  set  of  people 
to  other  people. 

5.  The  sons  of  Zebedee  sought  to  be  as  wise  as  Jesus 
Christ.     He  said  to  them:     Why  do  you  need  this?    You 
can  live  and  be  born  again  of  the  Spirit  even  as  I;  there- 


204  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

fore  if  you  seek  to  be  as  I  am,  you  do  so  to  become  greater 
than  others.  But  according  to  my  teaching  there  are  no 
great  or  small,  no  important  or  unimportant.  Rulers  who 
have  dominion  over  people,  require  to  be  greater  and  more 
important  than  other  people,  but  you  have  no  need  of 
this,  because  according  to  my  teaching  it  is  better  for  man 
to  be  less  than  others,  rather  than  greater  than  others. 
According  to  my  teaching  he  who  is  least  is  the  greatest. 
According  to  my  teaching,  you  must  be  the  servant  of  all. 

6.  No  one  as  well  as  the  children  carries  out  in  life 
the  true  idea  of  equality.    And  how  criminally  wicked  are 
their  elders  when  they  violate  this  sacred  feeling  of  child- 
hood, teaching  them  that  there  are  on  the  one  hand  prom- 
inent men,  wealthy  men  and  celebrities  who  must  be  treated 
with  deference,  and  on  the  other,  servants,  laborers  and 
beggars  who  must  be  treated  patronizingly.    "He  who  shall 
offend  one  of  these  little  ones.  ..." 

7.  We  are  occasionally  dissatisfied  with  life  because 
we  do  not  seek  blessings  there  where  they  are  granted  us. 

Therein  is  the  cause  of  all  errors.  We  have  been 
granted  the  peerless  gift  of  life  with  all  its  joys.  And  we 
say:  the  joys  are  too  few.  We  are  given  the  supreme  joy 
of  life — association  with  the  people  of  the  whole  world, 
and  we  say :  I  want  a  peculiar  blessing  all  to  myself,  to  my 
family,  to  my  nation. 

8.  Be  a  man  of  our  day  ever  so  well  educated  or 
learned,  or  be  he  a  common  laborer,  be  he  a  philosopher, 
a   scientist,   or  be  he   an  ignoramus,   and  be  he   rich  or 
poor — every  man  in  this  present  age  knows  that  all  people 
have  an  equal  right  to  life  and  to  the  blessings  of  the  world, 
that  one  set  of  people  is  no  worse  and  no  better  than  an- 
other, that  all  men  are  equal.     Yet  every  man  lives  as 
though  he  did  not  know  this. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  205 

So  powerful  is  the  delusion  of  the  inequality  of  men 
which  still  persists  in  the  world. 


Why  are  All  Men  Equal? 

1.  No  matter  what  the  people  are,  no  matter  what 
their  fathers  and  grandfathers  were,  they  are  all  alike  as 
two  drops  of  water,  because  in  them  all  dwells  the  spirit 
of  God. 

2.  Only  he  who  does  not  know  that  God  dwells  in  him 
can  count  some  men  more  important  than  others. 

3.  When  a  man  loves  some  people  above  others,  he 
loves  with  a   human   love.     Before  the   love  of   God   all 
men  are  equal. 

4.  The  identical  feeling  of  adoration  which  we  ex- 
perience at  the  sight  of  a  human  creature  either  newly 
bora  or  passed  into  the  Beyond,  irrespective  of  the  class 
to  which  it  belongs,  demonstrates  to  us  our  innate  con- 
sciousness of  the  equality  of  men. 

5.  "Be  careful  in  attempting  to  strike  at  the  devil 
in  man,  lest  you  hit  God  within  him."     This  means  that 
while  we  criticize  a  man  we  must  not  forget  that  the  spirit 
of  God  dwells  within  him. 

6.  To  count  all  men  equal  to  yourself  does  not  mean 
that  you  are  as  strong,  as  skillful,  as  alert,  as  wise,  as 
well  educated,  as  good  as  others,  but  it  means  that  there 
dwells  in  you  something  which   is  more  important  than 
anything  else,  and  that  this  same  thing  dwells  also  in  all 
other  people,  and  it  is  the  spirit  of  God. 

7.  To  say  that  men  are  unequal  is  like  saying  that 
the  fire  in  a  stove,  in  a  conflagration  or  in  a  candle  is 
not  the  same  fire.    In  every  man  dwells  the  spirit  of  God. 


206  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

How  can  we  make  a  distinction  between  those  who  carry 
in  them  the  same  spirit  of  God  ? 

One  fire  is  blazing,  another  is  just  beginning  to  glow, 
but  it  is  the  same  fire,  and  we  must  handle  all  fires  alike. 

VI. 

The  Recognition  of  the  Equality  of  All  Men  is  Prac- 
ticable, and  Humanity  Gradually  Approaches 
this  Goal 

1.  People  labor  to  establish  equality  of  all  men  be- 
fore their  laws,  but  ignore  the  equality  which  is  established 
by  the  eternal  law  and  which  is  violated  by  human  laws. 

2.  Should  we  not  strive  towards  such  an  order  of 
life  where  elevation  by  the  way  of  a  social  ladder  would 
not  fascinate  people,  but  terrify  them,  because  each  eleva- 
tion deprives  man  of  one  of  life's  greatest  blessings — equal 
attitude  towards  all  people.  Ruskin. 

3.  Some  say  that  equality  is  impossible.     We  must, 
however,  assert  that  on  the  contrary  it  is  inequality  which 
is  impossible  among  Christians. 

We  cannot  make  a  tall  man  equal  to  a  short  one,  a 
strong  man  to  a  weakling,  a  quick  witted  man  to  a  dullard, 
an  ardent  man  to  one  who  is  cold,  but  we  can  and  must 
equally  esteem  and  love  the  small  and  the  great,  the  strong 
and  the  weak,  the  wise  and  the  foolish. 

4.  It  is  said  that  some  men  will  always  be  stronger, 
others  weaker,  some  wiser,  others  more  foolish.     For  this 
very  reason  that  some  are  stronger  and  wiser  than  others, 
says  Lichtenberg,  do  we  particularly  need  equal  rights  for 
all   people.     If   in   addition   to   inequalities   of   mind   and 
strength  there  existed  also  inequalities  of  rights,  the  oppres- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  207 

sion  of  the  weak  by  the  powerful  would  be  still  more 
rampant. 

5.  Do  not  believe  it  if  you  are  told  that  equality  is 
impossible,  unless  in  some  remote  future  period. 

Learn  of  the  children.  Equality  is  now  possible  with 
all  men.  In  your  own  life  you  can  introduce  equality 
among  all  men  with  whom  you  come  in  contact. 

Only  withhold  undue  reverence  from  those  who  count 
themselves  great  and  mighty,  and  show  in  particular  the 
same  measure  of  respect  to  those  who  are  considered  un- 
important and  inferior  as  you  do  to  other  people. 

VII. 

He  Who  Lives  the  Life  of  the  Spirit  Counts 
All  Men  Equal 

1.  Only  those  who  live  the  life  that  is  merely  of  the 
body  can  consider  some  men  superior,  others  inferior  and 
all  unequal  one  to  another.     If  a  man  lives  the  life  of  the 
spirit,  inequality  cannot  exist  for  him. 

2.  Christ    revealed   to   men,    what   they   always   had 
known,  that  men  are  equal  among  themselves,  equal  be- 
cause the  same  spirit  dwells  in  them.    But  since  the  earliest 
times  men  have  divided  themselves   into  classes — on  the 
one  hand  men  of  position  and  wealth  and  on  the  other 
the  toilers  and  the  poor.     And  although  they  know  that 
they  are  all  equal,  they  live  as  though  they  did  not  know 
it,  and  assert  that  all  men  can  not  be  equal.    Do  not  believe 
it.     Go  learn  of  the  little  ones. 

The  infant  esteems  the  most  important  man  in  the 
land  the  same  as  an  ordinary  person.  Do  thou  likewise. 
Meet  all  people  with  love  and  kindliness,  but  all  equally. 
If  men  exalt  themselves,  do  not  esteem  them  more  highly 


208  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

than  others.  If  others  are  humbled  by  men  try  to  respect 
these  humbled  ones  particularly  as  equal  to  all  other  men. 
Remember  that  in  them  all  equally  dwells  the  spirit  of 
God,  than  which  we  know  nothing  higher. 

3.  Love  to  a  Christian  is  a  sentiment  which  craves 
blessings   for  all  men.     But  with  many  people  the  word 
"love"  signifies  a  feeling  entirely  contrary  to  this. 

In  the  minds  of  many  people  who  acknowledge  life  in 
the  animal  personality  only,  love  is  that  feeling  by  virtue 
of  which  a  mother  for  the  good  of  her  own  child,  hires  a 
wet  nurse  and  deprives  another  child  of  its  mother's  milk; 
the  same  feeling,  by  virtue  of  which  a  father  robs  starving 
people  of  the  last  piece  of  bread,  in  order  to  satisfy  his 
own  children ;  that  feeling  by  virtue  of  which  he  who  loves 
a  woman  suffers  from  that  love  and  compels  her  likewise 
to  suffer,  and  then  entices  her  into  sin  or  ruins  both  her 
and  himself  out  of  jealousy;  the  same  feeling,  by  virtue 
of  which  men  associated  in  one  group  do  injury  to  people 
foreign  or  hostile  to  that  group;  that  feeling  by  virtue  of 
which  a  man  toils  painfully  at  some  business  he  pretends 
to  "love"  and  by  it  causes  woe  and  suffering  to  the  people 
around;  that  feeling  by  virtue  of  which  men  resent  an  in- 
sult to  the  land  wherein  they  live  and  cover  blood-reeking 
battlefields  with  the  bodies  of  slain  and  maimed  men,  both 
of  their  own  and  of  hostile  allegiance. 

These  feelings  are  not  love,  because  the  men  harboring 
them  do  not  acknowledge  all  men  as  equals.  And  without 
acknowledging  all  men  as  equals  there  can  be  no  true  love 
towards  people. 

4.  It  is  impossible  to  harmonize  inequality  with  love. 
Love  is  only  then  love  when  like  the  rays  of  the  sun  it 
falls  equally  upon  all  within  the  reach  of  its  radiance. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  209' 

But  when  it  falls  upon  some  and  excludes  others,  it  is 
no  longer  love  but  merely  something  that  resembles  it. 

5.  It  is  difficult  to  love  all  people  alike,  but  just  be- 
cause it  is  different  it  need  not  deter  us  from  striving  after 
it.    All  that  is  good  is  difficult. 

6.  The  less  equal  are  men  according  to  their  qualities, 
the  more  we  must  strive  to  treat  them  equally. 

7.  In  you,  in  me  and  in  everyone  dwells  the  God  of 
life.     You  are  wrong  to  be  angry  with  me,  to  resent  my 
advances ;  know  that  we  are  all  equal.     Mahmud  Hasha. 


FORCE 


FORCE 

One  of  the  main  causes  of  human  misery  is  the  erron- 
eous idea  that  some  men  may  by  force  order  or  improve  the 
life  of  others. 

Coercing  Others 

1.  The  delusion  that  some  men  may  by  force  order  the 
life  of  other  men  who  are  like  them  is  not  due  to  some  one 
having  specially  invented  it,  but  to  men,  who  yielding  them- 
selves up  to  their  passions,  first  began  to  coerce  people  and 
then  endeavored  to  invent  some  excuse  for  their  violence. 

2.  Men  see  that  there  is  something  wrong  with  their 
life  and  endeavor  in  some  way  to  improve  it.    But  there  is 
only  one  thing  that  is  in  their  power  which  they  may  im- 
prove, namely,  their  own  self.    But  to  improve  oneself,  one 
must  first  admit  that  one  lacks  goodness,  and  this  is  annoy- 
ing.   And  they  turn  all  their  attention  away  from  that  which 
is  always  in  their  power — self,  to  those  external  conditions 
that  are  not  in  their  power,  and  a  change  in  which  has  as 
little  chance  to  improve  the  state  of  man,  as  shaking  the  wine 
and  pouring  it  into  another  vessel  can  improve  the  quality  of 
the  wine.    Thus  originates  that  activity  which  is  futile,  to 
start  with,  and  moreover,  harmful,  conceited  (think  of  cor- 
recting others),  malicious    (people  hindering  the  common 
good  may  be  murdered)  and  finally  vicious. 

3.  Some  mean  by  the  use  of  force  to  compel  others  to 
live  a  good  life.    And  they  are  the  first  to  set  an  evil  ex- 
ample in  the  use  of  violence.    Living  in  filth  themselves,  in- 
stead of  endeavoring  to  emerge  from  it,  they  instruct  others 
how  not  to  be  soiled. 

4.  The  delusion  of  bringing  about  order  among  people 
by  use  of  force  is  injurious  because  it  passes  from  genera- 


214  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tion  to  generation.  People  who  have  been  raised  under  the 
order  of  violence,  do  not  ask  themselves  whether  it  is  neces- 
sary or  proper  to  coerce  others,  but  are  firmly  convinced 
that  people  cannot  live  without  the  use  of  force. 

5.  To  order  the  life  of  other  people  is  easy  for  the 
reason  that  if  you  fail  to  order  it  aright,  others,  and  not 
yourself,  will  be  the  sufferers. 

6.  Some  think  that  one  can  order  the  life  of  others  only 
by  force,  yet  force  brings  no  order  into  human  life,  but  only 
disorder. 

7.  Only  he  who  does  not  believe  in  God  can  believe 
that  men,  who  are  of  his  own  kind,  may  order  his  life  so  as 
to  make  it  better. 

8.  The  delusion  that  man  can  order  the  life  of  others  is 
all  the  more  dreadful  because  under  this  belief  the  less  moral 
a  man  is  the  more  highly  he  is  esteemed. 

9.  The  existing  order  is  sustained  not  by  force,  but  by 
public  opinion.     Force  violates  public  opinion.     Therefore, 
force  weakens  and  undermines  that  which  it  would  sustain. 

10.  When  men  say  that  all  should  live  in  peace,  that  no 
one  should  be  injured,  yet  use  force  to  compel  people  to  live 
according  to  their  will,  it  is  as  though  they  said:  do  as  we 
say,  but  not  as  we  do.     Such  men  may  be  feared,  but  they 
cannot  be  trusted. 

11.  As  long  as  men  are  unable  to  withstand  the  tempta- 
tions of  fear,  intoxication,  covetousness,  ambition  and  van- 
ity, which  enslaves  some  and  deprave  others,  they  will  al- 
ways form  a  society  of  deceivers  and  users  of  force  on  the 
one  hand,  and  of  victims  of  deceit  and  force  on  the  other. 
To  avoid  this,  moral  effort  is  required  on  the  part  of  every 
man.    Men  realize  this  in  the  depth  of  their  own  hearts,  but 
they  seek  to  attain  without  a  moral  effort  that  which  can  be 
attained  only  through  a  moral  effort. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  215 

To  determine  by  you  own  effort  your  attitude  to  the 
world,  and  to  maintain  it,  to  establish  your  attitude  to  man 
on  the  basis  of  the  eternal  principle  of  doing  unto  others  as 
you  would  that  others  do  unto  you,  to  subjugate  those  evil 
passions  within  that  enslave  us  to  other  people,  to  be  no 
man's  master,  no  man's  slave,  not  to  pretend,  not  to  lie,  not 
to  recede  for  fear  of  favor  from  the  demands  of  the  highest 
law  of  your  conscience — all  this  requires  effort.  But  if  you 
imagine  that  the  establishment  of  some  kind  of  order  will 
in  some  mysterious  manner  lead  all  men,  including  myself, 
to  attain  justice  and  all  sorts  of  virtues,  and,  if  in  order  to 
attain  them,  you  repeat — without  mental  effort — what  the 
men  of  some  one  party  choose  to  say,  if  you  hustle,  argue, 
lie,  dissemble,  quarrel,  fight — all  these  things  come  of  their 
own  accord  and  require  no  effort.  And  now  comes  the  doc- 
trine of  bettering  our  social  life  by  means  of  a  change  of 
external  orders.  According  to  this  doctrine  men  can  attain 
without  effort  the  fruits  of  effort.  This  doctrine  has  been 
and  is  responsible  for  terrible  misery  and  more  than  any- 
thing else  holds  back  the  true  progress  of  mankind  towards 
perfection. 

II. 

The  Use  of  Force  in  Combating  Evil  is  Inadmissible, 

Because  the  Conception  of  Evil  Varies  with 

Different  People 

1.  It  would  seem  to  be  clear  beyond  a  doubt  that  since 
every  one  has  a  different  conception  of  evil,  to  fight  what 
various  people  consider  evil  with  another  evil,  would  serve 
to  increase  evil  rather  than  to  diminish  it.  If  John  consid- 
ers that  which  is  done  by  Peter  as  evil,  and  he  thinks  it 
right  to  do  evil  to  Peter,  Peter  may  with  the  same  right  do 
evil  to  John,  and  thus  evil  can  be  only  increased. 


216  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

It  is  marvelous  that  men  should  understand  the  rela- 
tions between  stars  and  fail  to  understand  this  simple  truth. 
Why  is  it  so?  Because  men  believe  in  the  beneficial  effect 
of  force. 

2.  If  I  may  by  the  use  of  force  compel  one  man  to  do 
that  which  I  believe  to  be  good,  even  so  can  another  man  by 
force  compel  me  to  do  that  which  he  thinks  is  good,  al- 
though our  ideas  of  what  is  good  may  be  entirely  contrary 
to  one  another. 

3.  The  doctrine  that  man  may  not  and  must  not  use 
force  for  the  sake  of  that  which  he  considers  good,  is  fair  if 
alone  for  the  reason  that  the  ideas  of  good  and  evil  differ 
with  all  men.    That  which  one  man  considers  evil  may  be  an 
imaginary  evil  (some  people  may  consider  it  good) ;  but  the 
force  used  for  the  sake  of  destroying  this  evil — chastise- 
ment, maiming,  deprivation  of  liberty,  death,  is  an  evil  be- 
yond any  doubt. 

4.  The  question  how  to  settle  the  constantly  current 
disputes  of  people  as  to  what  constitutes  good  and  evil  is 
answered  by  the  teaching  of  Christ :  since  man  cannot  indis- 
putably establish  what  is  evil,  he  must  not  by  the  use  of  force, 
which  is  an  evil,  overcome  that  which  he  believes  to  be 
evil. 

5.  The  principal  harm  of  the  fallacy  of  ordering  the 
lives  of  others  by  the  use  of  force  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
moment  you  admit  the  propriety  of  using  force  upon  one 
man  for  the  benefit  of  many  there  are  no  limits  to  the  evil 
that  may  be  wrought  for  the  sake  of  the  same  proposition. 
Upon  this  very  principle  were  based  the  torture,  inquisition, 
and  slavery  of  olden  times,  and  are  now  based  the  present 
day  wars  from  which  millions  are  perishing. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  217 

-III. 

The  Inefficiency  of  Force 

1.  To  compel  people  by  force  to  refrain  from  doing 
evil  is  like  damming  a  river  and  feeling  pleased  with  the 
shallow  place  below  the  dam.    In  due  course  the  river  will 
overflow  the  dam  and  will  run  as  of  yore,  and  evil  doers  will 
not  cease  from  evil,  but  merely  await  their  opportunity. 

2.  He  who  forces  us  deprives  us  of  our  rights  and  we 
hate  him.     We  love  those  who  know  how  to  persuade  us 
and  count  them  our  benefactors.    It  is  not  the  wise  man,  but 
the  brutal  and  unenlightened  man  who  takes  recourse  to 
force.     In  order  to  use  force,  many  accessories   are  re- 
quired.   To  persuade,  we  need  none.    He  who  feels  enough 
power  within  himself  to  dominate  minds  needs  not  take  re- 
course to  force.    Only  those  take  recourse  to  force  who  feel 
their  impotence  to  persuade  people  of  their  necessity. 

Socrates. 

3.  To  compel  people  by  force  to  that  which  seems  to 
me  good  is  the  best  means  to  create  in  them  a  repugnance 
against  that  which  seems  to  me  good. 

4.  Every  man  knows  in  his  heart  how  hard  it  is  so  to 
change  one's  life  as  to  become  such  as  one  would  be.    But  in 
the  case  of  others  it  seems  to  us  as  though  all  we  have  to  do 
is  to  command  and  to  terrify,  and  others  will  become  such 
as  we  would  have  them  be. 

5.  Force  is  the  instrument  by  which  ignorance  compels 
its  followers  to  do  things  against  the  inclination  of  their 
nature;  and  like  the  attempt  to  force  water  above  its  level, 
the  moment  the  instrument  ceases  to  act,  its  effects  cease  as 
well.    There  are  only  two  ways  of  directing  human  activi- 
ties :  one  is  to  gain  the  inclination  and  to  convince  the  reason- 
ing, and  the  other  to  compel  a  man  to  act  against  his  inclina- 


218  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tions  and  against  his  reasoning.  The  first  method  is  proved 
by  experience  and  is  always  crowned  by  success,  and  the 
other  is  employed  by  ignorance  and  always  results  in  disap- 
pointment. When  a  baby  is  crying  for  its  rattle,  it  means  to 
get  it  by  force.  When  the  parents  spank  their  children  it 
is  to  force  them  to  be  good.  When  a  drunken  husband  beats 
his  wife,  his  idea  is  to  correct  her  by  force.  When  people 
punish  others,  it  is  to  make  the  world  better  by  the  employ- 
ment of  force.  When  one  man  goes  to  law  with  another, 
it  is  done  to  obtain  justice  by  the  use  of  force.  When  the 
preacher  speaks  of  the  terror  of  the  tortures  of  hell,  his  pur- 
pose is  to  attain  the  desired  condition  of  soul  by  force.  And 
it  is  a  marvel  that  ignorance  should  persist  in  guiding  man- 
kind on  the  same  path  of  violence  which  is  bound  to  lead 
to  disappointment.  Combes. 

6.  Every  man  knows  that  all  force  is  evil,  and  yet,  to 
prevent  people  from  using  force,  we  cannot  invent  anything 
better,  while  demanding  the  highest  respect  for  ourselves, 
than  to  adopt  the  most  terrible  forms  of  violence. 

7.  The  fact  that  it  is  possible  to  make  men  amenable 
to  justice  by  the  use  of  force,  does  not  yet  prove  that  it  is 
just  to  subject  people  to  force.  Pascal. 

IV. 

The  Delusion  of  an  Order  of  Life  Based  on  Force 

1.  How  strange  is  the  delusion  that  men  may  force 
others  to  do  that  which  they  consider  good  for  them,  and  not 
that  which  these  latter  consider  good  for  themselves,  and  yet 
all  the  misfortunes  of  life  are  based  upon  this  delusion.  One 
set  of  people  compels  the  others  to  pretend  that  they  en- 
joy doing  the  things  prescribed  for  them,  and  threatens  them 
with  all  sorts  of  violence  should  they  discontinue  this  pre- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  219 

tense,  and  they  are  thoroughly  convinced  that  they  are  do- 
ing something  useful  and  worthy  of  praise  by  all  men,  even 
by  those  whom  they  force  to  do  their  will. 

2.  So  many  victims  have  been  sacrificed  upon  the  altar 
of  the  god  of  force  that  twenty  planets  as  large  as  the  earth 
might  be  peopled  with  these  victims,  and  has  the  most  in- 
significant part  of  the  purpose  been  ever  attained  thereby  ? 

Nothing  has  been  attained,  excepting  that  the  condition 
of  the  people  has  steadily  grown  worse.  And  still  force  re- 
mains the  deity  of  the  mob.  Before  its  blood-reeking  altar 
mankind  seems  to  have  resolved  to  kneel  to  the  sound  of  the 
drum,  to  the  cannonading  of  guns  and  the  moaning  of  bleed- 
ing humanity.  A.  Ballon. 

3.  "Self   preservation   is   the   first   law   of  nature" — 
maintain  the  opponents  of  the  law  of  non-resistance. 

"Agreed,  what  do  you  infer  from  it?"    I  inquire. 

"I  infer  that  self  defense  against  everything  which 
threatens  with  destruction  becomes  a  law  of  nature.  And 
from  this  must  be  deduced  that  struggle,  and  as  the  result  of 
every  struggle,  the  ruin  of  the  weakest,  is  a  law  of  nature, 
and  this  law  beyond  doubt  justifies  war,  violence  and  re- 
tribution ;  so  that  the  direct  deduction  from  and  the  con- 
sequence of  the  law  of  self  preservation  is  that  self-defense 
is  lawful,  and  therefore  the  doctrine  of  non-employment 
of  force  is  erroneous,  being  contrary  to  nature  and  inapplic- 
able to  the  conditions  of  life  upon  earth." 

I  agree  that  self  preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature, 
and  that  it  leads  to  self-defense.  I  admit  that  following  the 
example  of  the  lower  forms  of  life  human  beings  fight  with 
one  another,  injure  and  even  slay  one  another  under  the  pre- 
tence of  self-defense  and  retribution.  But  I  see  therein 
only  that  human  beings,  the  majority  of  them  unfortunately, 


220  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  law  of  their  higher  human  na- 
ture is  open  to  them,  still  continue  to  live  according  to  the 
law  of  animal  nature  and  thus  deprive  themselves  of  the 
most  effective  means  of  self-defense  which  they  could  use 
if  they  only  chose  to  follow  the  human  law  of  love,  instead 
of  the  animal  law  of  force, — namely,  returning  good  for 
evil.  A.  Ballou. 

4.  It  is  clear  that  violence  and  murder  arouse  the 
wrath  of  a  man,  and  his  first  impulse  is  naturally  to  oppose 
violence  and  murder  to  violence  and  murder.  Such  actions, 
although  akin  to  animal  nature  and  unreasonable,  are  not 
absurd  or  self -contradictory.  It  is  different,  however,  with 
attempts  to  find  excuses  for  these  actions.  The  moment 
those  who  have  the  ordering  of  our  lives  attempt  to  justify 
these  actions  by  basing  them  upon  reason,  they  are  com- 
pelled to  build  up  a  series  of  cunning  and  involved  fictions 
in  order  to  hide  the  senselessness  of  such  attempts. 

The  principal  example  of  such  an  excuse  is  that  of  an 
imaginary  robber  who  tortures  and  slays  innocent  persons 
in  your  presence. 

"You  might  sacrifice  your  own  self  for  the  sake  of  your 
belief  in  the  unlawfulness  of  force,  but  here  you  sacrifice 
the  life  of  another" — so  say  the  defenders  of  force. 

But,  in  the  first  instance,  such  a  robber  is  an  excep- 
tional circumstance.  Many  people  may  live  to  be  a  hundred 
years  old  without  meeting  a  robber  engaged  in  slaying  inno- 
cent people  before  their  very  eyes.  Why  should  I  base  my 
rule  of  life  on  such  a  fiction?  Discussing  real  life  and  not 
fictions,  we  see  something  entirely  different.  We  see  that 
other  people,  and  we  ourselves,  commit  the  most  cruel  deeds, 
not  singly  like  the  imaginary  robber,  but  always  in  league 
with  others,  and  not  because  we  are  criminals,  like  the  rob- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  221 

her,  but  because  we  are  subject  to  the  superstition  of  the 
lawfulness  of  force.  Then  again  we  see  that  the  most  cruel 
actions  do  not  proceed  from  the  imaginary  robber,  but  from 
people  who  base  their  rule  of  life  on  the  supposition  of  the 
said  robber.  A  man  considering  the  problems  of  life  can- 
not help  seeing  that  the  cause  of  evil  among  men  is  not  in 
this  imaginary  robber,  but  in  the  human  errors,  one  of  the 
most  cruel  of  which  is  that  we  may  do  actual  evil  in  the 
name  of  imaginary  evil.  A  man  who  realizes  this  and  ad- 
dresses himself  to  the  cause  of  evil,  to  the  task  of  eradicating 
error  in  himself  and  in  others,  will  see  unfolding  before  his 
eyes  so  vast  and  fruitful  a  field  that  he  will  never  compre- 
hend why  he  should  need  the  fiction  of  the  imaginary  robber 
for  his  activities. 

V. 
Ruinous  Effects  of  the  Superstition  of  Force 

1.  That  evil  which  men  think  to  ward  off  with  force  is 
incomparably  less  than  the  harm  they  do  to  themselves  when 
defending  themselves  by  force. 

2.  Not  Christ  alone,  but  all  the  sages  of  the  world, 
Brahmins,    Buddhists,    Greeks,   taught   that    rational   men 
should  not  repay  evil  with  evil,  but  with  good.     But  men 
who  live  by  force  say  that  this  cannot  be  done,  that  this 
would  make  life  worse  instead  of  better.     And  they  are 
right,  as  far  as  they  are  concerned,  but  not  as  far  as  those 
who  suffer  from  force  are  concerned.    In  the  worldly  sense 
it  would  be  worse  for  the  former,  but  it  would  be  better  for 
all. 

3.  The  entire  teaching  of  Christ  is  to  love  others.    To 
love  others  means  to  treat  them  as  you  would  that  others 
treat  you.     Since  no  one  wishes  to  be  forcibly  dealt  with, 
then  treating  others  as  you  would  be  treated  by  them,  you 


222  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

can  under  no  circumstances  use  force  upon  them.  To  say 
then,  as  confessing  and  practicing  the  teachings  of  Christ, 
that  we  Christians  may  use  force  on  people  is  like  inserting 
a  key  into  the  lock  above  its  proper  turning  place  and  claim- 
ing that  you  use  the  key  in  accordance  with  its  purpose. 
Without  admitting  that  under  no  circumstances  man  may 
use  force  on  others,  all  the  teachings  of  Christ  are  empty 
words. 

With  this  conception  of  his  teachings,  you  can  torture, 
rob,  slay  millions  in  wars,  as  is  now  being  done  by  people 
calling  themselves  Christians,  but  you  cannot  say  that  you 
are  a  Christian. 

4.  It  is  hard  to  follow  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance, 
but  is  it  easy  to  follow  the  teaching  of  struggle  and  retribu- 
tion. 

To  answer  this  question  open  the  pages  of  the  history 
of  any  nation,  and  read  the  description  of  any  one  of  a 
hundred  thousand  battles  which  men  have  fought  in  the 
name  of  the  law  of  combat.  Several  thousand  million  men 
have  been  killed  in  these  battles,  so  that  more  lives  have 
been  lost,  more  pain  has  been  suffered  in  any  one  of  these 
battles  than  might  have  been  lost  in  the  aggregate  in  ages  of 
non-resistance  to  evil.  ^  Ballou. 

5.  The  employment  of  force  arouses  the  resentment  of 
people,  and  he  who  uses  force  for  self-defence,  not  only 
fails,  as  a  rule,  to  protect  himself,  but  even  exposes  himself 
to  greater  dangers,  so  that  to  use  force  for  self-protection 
is  unreasonable  and  ineffective. 

6.  Each  act  of  force  merely  irritates  man,  instead  of 
subjugating  him.    So  that  it  is  clear  that  you  cannot  correct 
people  by  force. 

7.  If  it  were  asked  how  man  could  strip  himself  en- 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  223 

tirely  of  moral  responsibility  and  commit  the  most  evil  deeds 
without  a  feeling  of  guilt,  a  more  effective  means  could  not 
be  devised  than  the  superstition  that  force  can  promote  the 
well-being  of  people. 

8.  The  error  that  some  men  may  by  force  order  the 
life  of  others  is  particularly  harmful  because  men  falling 
into  this  delusion  cease  to  distinguish  good  from  evil. 

9.  Force  creates  only  a  semblance  of  justice,  but  re- 
moves man  from  the  possibility  of  living  justly,  without  vio- 
lence. 

10.  Why  is  Christianity  so  degraded  ?    Why  has  moral- 
ity fallen  so  low?     There  is  but  one  cause:  belief  in  the 
rule  of  force. 

11.  We  fail  to  see  all  of  the  wickedness  of  force,  be- 
cause we  submit  to  it. 

Force,  by  its  very  nature,  inevitably  leads  to  murder. 

If  one  man  says  to  another:  "Do  this,  and  if  you  re- 
fuse, I  will  force  you  to  do  my  will,"  it  can  only  mean  that 
if  you  fail  to  do  exactly  as  I  say,  I  shall  in  the  end  kill  you. 

12.  Nothing  so  delays  the  establishment  of  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  on  earth,  as  the  determination  of  people  to 
establish  it  by  means  of  deeds  contrary  to  its  spirit :  namely, 
by  force. 

VI. 

Only  Through  Non-Resistance  to  Evil  Will  Humanity 
Be  Led  to  Substitute  the  Law  of  Love  for 

the  Law  of  Force 

1.  The  meaning  of  the  words:  "You  have  heard  it 
said,  An  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.  But  I  say 
unto  you:  do  not  resist  evil.  And  if  a  man  strike.  .  .  .  ," 
is  perfectly  clear  and  requires  no  explanation  or  interpreta- 
tion. You  cannot  understand  it  otherwise  but  that  Christ 


224  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

rejected  the  former  law  of  force:  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for 
tooth,  and  thereby  rejected  the  entire  world  order  based  on 
that  law,  that  he  substituted  a  new  law  of  love  of  all  people 
without  distinction,  instituting  thereby  a  new  order  of  the 
world,  based  not  upon  force,  but  upon  the  law  of  love  for  all 
men  without  distinction.  And  some  men  having  grasped  the 
true  significance  of  this  teaching,  foreseeing  that  an  appli- 
cation of  this  teaching  of  life  would  destroy  all  the  benefits 
and  advantages  enjoyed  by  them,  crucified  Christ,  and  still 
are  crucifying  His  disciples.  Other  men,  however,  likewise 
having  grasped  the  true  meaning  of  His  teaching,  were 
content  in  times  past  and  are  content  to  this  day  to  mount 
the  Cross,  thereby  hastening  the  time  when  the  world  will 
be  ruled  by  the  law  of  love. 

2.  The  teaching  of  not  opposing  force  to  evil  is  not 
some  new  law,  but  merely  points  people  to  an  unjustifiable 
transgression  of  the  law  of  love,  merely  demonstrates  to 
people  that  the  admission  of  any  act  of  violence  against  one's 
neighbor,  either  for  the  purpose  of  retribution,  or  to  save 
oneself  or  one's  neighbor  from  evil  is  incompatible  with 
love. 

3.  Nothing  so  hinders  the  improvement  in  the  life  of 
people  as  the  desire  to  improve  it  by  acts  of  force.     And 
force  used  by  one  set  of  men  upon  others  more  than  any- 
thing else  turns  the  people  from  the  one  thing  that  could  im- 
prove their  life,  namely,  the  desire  to  become  better. 

4.  Only  those  men  who  find  it  profitable  to  order  the 
life  of  others  can  believe  that  force  can  improve  the  life  of 
others.    But  people  who  have  fallen  into  this  delusion  ought 
to  see  clearly  that  human  life  can  change  for  the  better  only 
as  the  result  of  an  inner  spiritual  change,  and  never  as  the 
result  of  force  employed1  upon  them  by  others. 

5.  The  less  a  man  is  satisfied  with  himself  or  with  his 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  225 

inner  life,  the  more  he  manifests  himself  in  the  external,  in 
the  public  life. 

In  order  not  to  fall  into  this  error,  man  should  under- 
stand and  remember  that  he  has  as  little  call  or  right  to 
order  the  life  of  others,  as  others  have  to  order  his,  and  that 
he  and  all  people  are  called  only  to  strive  after  their  inner 
perfection,  all  men  have  the  right  to  this  one  thing  and  only 
by  this  alone  can  they  influence  the  life  of  others. 

6.  Frequently  men  lead  an  evil  life  merely  because 
they  attend  to  ordering  the  life  of  others  instead  of  their 
own.    They  seem  to  think  that  their  life  is  only  an  individual 
one,  and  therefore,  less  important  than  the  life  of  many,  of 
all.     But  they  forget  that  while  they  have  the  power  of 
ordering  their  own  life,  they  cannot  order  the  life  of  others. 

7.  If  the  time  and  energy  spent  by  people  now  upon 
ordering  the  life  of  others  were  spent  upon  combating  their 
own  sins,  that  which  they  strive  for,  namely,  the  attainment 
of  the  best  possible  order  of  life,  would  come  about  very 
speedily. 

8.  Man  has  power  only  over  himself.     He  can  order 
only  his  own  life  as  he  finds  good  and  proper.    And  yet  al- 
most everybody  is  busy  ordering  the  life  of  others,  and 
because  of  that  very  anxiety  to  order  the  life  of  others,  they 
in  turn  submit  to  life  as  ordered  for  them  by  others. 

9.  Ordering  the  common  life  of  men  by  means  of  acts 
supported  by  force,  without  regard  to  their  inner  perfecting, 
is  like  reconstructing  a  fallen  building  with  rough  hewn 
stones  and  without  the  use  of  cement.    No  matter  how  you 
pile  them  up,  you  achieve  nothing,  and  the  structure  must 
fall. 

10.  When  Socrates,  the  philosopher,  was  asked  where 
he  was  born,  he  replied :    "On  earth."    When  he  was  asked 
what  country  he  came  from,  he  replied :    "The  Universe." 


226  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

We  must  remember  that  before  God  we  are  all  the  resi- 
dents of  one  and  the  same  earth,  and  that  we  are  all  under 
the  supreme  law  of  God. 

The  law  of  God  is  always  the  same  for  all  people. 

11.  No  man  can  be  either  an  instrument  or  a  purpose. 
Therein  is  his  worth.    And  as  he  cannot  dispose  of  himself 
at  any  price  (which  would  be  against  his  dignity),  neither 
has  he  the  right  to  dispose  of  the  life  of  others;  in  other 
words,  he  is  bound  to  acknowledge  the  dignity  of  the  human 
calling  in  every  man,  and  therefore  must  express  his  re- 
spect to  every  man.  Kant. 

12.  For  what  have  men  reason,  if  you  cannot  influence 
them,  excepting  by  the  use  of  force  ? 

13.  Men  are  rational  beings,  and  therefore  can  live  by 
the  guidance  of  reason  and  eventually  are  bound  to  substi- 
tute free  agreement  for  the  use  of  force.    But  each  act  of 
force  postpones  this  time. 

14.  How  strange.    Man  is  embittered  by  evil  proceed- 
ing from  without,  from  others,  evil  which  he  cannot  prevent, 
yet  does  not  fight  against  the  evil  within  himself,  although 
this  is  subject  to  his  power.  Marcus  Aurelius. 

15.  Men  can  be  taught  by  the  exposition  of  truth  and 
by  good  example,  but  not  by  being  forced  to  do  that  which 
they  do  not  wish  to  do. 

16.  If  men  only  sought  to  save  themselves,  instead  of 
saving  the  world;  to   free  themselves  instead  of   freeing 
humanity;  how  much  could  they  accomplish  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world  and  for  the  freedom  of  humanity. 

Hertzen. 

17.  By  fulfilling  his  inner  purpose  and  by  living  for 
his  soul,  man  unconsciously  and  most  effectively  works  for 
the  betterment  of  public  life. 


THE  PAT  HIV  AY  OF  LIFE  227 

18.  In  their  youth  men  believe  that  it  is  the  calling  of 
mankind  to  strive  constantly  after  perfection,  and  that  it  is 
possible,  even  easy,  to  correct  all  mankind,  to  destroy  all 
vices  and  misery.    These  dreams  are  not  ridiculous,  on  the 
contrary,  they  contain  more  truth  than  the  ideas  of  old  men, 
who  are  steeped  in  error,  when  these  men,  after  living  a 
life  contrary  to  man's  nature,  undertake  to  advise  others  to 
wish  for  nothing,  to  strive  for  nothing,  and  to  live  like 
animals. 

The  mistake  of  these  youthful  dreams  is  only  in  the 
proneness  at  youth  to  relegate  the  striving  after  perfection 
of  self  and  soul  to  others. 

Attend  to  your  business  in  life,  perfecting  and  improv- 
ing your  soul,  and  be  convinced  that  only  thus  will  you  most 
fruitfully  assist  the  improvement  in  the  common  life. 

19.  If  you  see  that  the  social  order  is  evil,  and  you 
desire  to  correct  it,  remember  that  there  is  only  one  way: 
that  is  for  all  people  to  become  better ;  but  to  make  all  people 
better  you  have  only  one  means :  become  better  yourself. 

20.  In  every  case  where  force  is  used,  apply  reason- 
able suasion,  and  you  will  seldom  suffer  loss  in  the  worldly 
sense,  and  will  be  far  ahead  spiritually. 

21.  Our  life  would  be  beautiful  if  we  only  could  see 
that  which  violates  our  happiness.     But  our  happiness  is 
mostly  violated  by  the  superstition  that  force  can  give  hap- 
piness. 

22.  The  security  and  the  happiness  of  the  society  is 
assured  only  by  the  morality  of  its  members.    But  morality 
has  for  its  foundation  love,  which  excludes  force. 

23.  The  imminent  change  of  the  order  of  life  for  the 
people  living  in  our  Christian  world  consists  in  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  law  of  love  for  that  of  force,  and  in  the  recogni- 


228  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tion  of  the  fact  that  the  blessedness  of  life  based  not  upon 
force  and  the  fear  of  it,  but  upon  love,  is  possible  and  can 
be  easily  attained,  and  such  change  can  never  come  by  force. 

24.  One  can  live  according  to  Christ,  and  one  can  live 
according  to  Satan.  Living  according  to  Christ  is  living 
like  human  beings,  loving  people,  doing  good  and  repaying 
good  for  evil.  Living  according  to  Satan  is  living  like 
beasts,  loving  self  alone,  and  repaying  evil  with  evil.  The 
more  we  try  to  live  according  to  Christ,  the  more  love  and 
happiness  will  reign  among  men.  The  more  we  live  accord- 
ing to  Satan,  the  more  miserable  will  be  our  life. 

The  commandment  of  love  shows  two  paths:  on  the 
one  hand,  the  path  of  truth,  the  path  of  Christ,  which  is  the 
path  of  life  and  good, — and  on  the  other,  the  path  of  de- 
lusion, the  path  of  hypocrisy,  the  path  of  death ;  and  though 
it  may  appear  terrible  to  relinquish  the  use  of  force  in  self- 
defence,  we  know  that  in  this  yielding  is  the  way  of  salva- 
tion. 

To  relinquish  the  use  of  force  does  not  mean  to  give  up 
the  custody  of  your  life,  of  your  labors  and  those  of  your 
neighbors,  but  merely  to  guard  them  in  a  way  not  contrary 
to  reason  and  love.  Guard  the  life  and  the  labors  of  self 
and  of  others  by  endeavoring  to  awaken  sentiments  of  kind- 
liness in  the  attacking  wretch.  To  be  able  to  do  this,  man 
must  be  good  and  reasonable  himself.  If  I  see,  for  in- 
stance, that  one  man  intends  to  kill  another,  the  best  thing 
that  I  can  do  is  to  place  myself  in  the  place  of  him  who  is 
threatened,  to  protect  him,  to  shield  him  with  my  person, 
and  if  possible,  to  rescue  him,  drag  him  away  to  safety  to 
conceal  him,  just  as  though  rescuing  a  man  from  the  flames 
of  a  conflagration  or  from  drowning;  either  perish  yourself 
or  rescue  him.  And  if  I  cannot  do  so  because  I  am  myself 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  229 

an  erring  sinner,  it  does  not  mean  that  I  should  be  a  beast 
and  while  doing  evil,  seek  excuses  for  my  course  of  action. 
Russian  Sectarian  Wisdom. 

VII. 

The   Corruption  of  Christ's   Commandment  Regarding 
Non-Resistance  to  Evil  by  the  Use  of  Force 

1.  The    foundation    of    law    and    order    among    the 
heathens  was  retribution  and  force.    It  could  not  have  been 
anything  else.     The   foundation   of   our  society  it  seems 
should  inevitably  be  love  and  denial  of  force.    And  yet  force 
still  reigns.    Why?    Because  that  which  is  preached  as  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  is  not  His  doctrine. 

2.  It  is  remarkable  that  men  who  do  not  understand 
the  teachings  of  Christ  particularly  resent  the  mention  of 
non-resistance  to  evil  by  force.     This  mention  displeases 
them  because  it  disturbs  their  accustomed  order  of  life. 
And  therefore,  people  who  do  not  care  to  change  their  ac- 
customed order  of  life  take  exception  to  this  basic  condition 
of  love,  terming  it  a  special  commandment,  independent  of 
the  law  of  love,  and  either  amend  it  in  divers  ways  or  simply 
deny  it. 

3.  Shall  we  understand  the  words  of  Christ  admonish- 
ing us  to  love  those  that  hate  us,  our  enemies,  and  forbidding 
force  of  any  description,  just  as  they  were  spoken  and  ex- 
pressed, or  as  the  teaching  of  meekness,  humility  and  love, 
or  as  something  still  different?    If  as  something  different,  it 
must  be  stated  as  what?     But  no  one  is  willing  to  do  so. 
What  does  it  mean  ?    It  means  that  all  these  people  who  call 
themselves   Christians   desire  to  conceal   from  themselves 
and  from  others  the  true  meaning  of  the  teachings  of  Christ, 
for  if  it  were  understood  as  it  should  be,  it  would  upset  the 


230  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

order  of  their  life.     And  this  order  of  life  is  profitable  to 
them. 

4.  Men  who  call  themselves  Christians  simply  do  not 
recognize  the  commandment  of  non-resistance  as  binding, 
they  teach  that  it  is  not  binding,  and  that  there  are  cases 
when  it  must  be  transgressed,  and  yet  they  dare  not  say  that 
they  deny  this  simple  and  clear  commandment,  which  is  in- 
separably bound  up  with  the  entire  teaching  of  Christ,  the 
doctrine  of  meekness,  humility,  the  obedient  bearing  of  the 
cross,  self-denial  and  love  of  the  enemy,  a  commandment 
without  which  the  entire  teaching  of  Christ  becomes  empty 
words. 

To  this,  and  to  this  alone,  is  due  the  remarkable  fact 
that  while  such  Christian  teachers  have  been  preaching 
Christianity  for  over  1900  years,  the  world  still  continues  to 
lead  a  pagan  life. 

5.  Every  man  of  the  world  reading  the  gospel  knows  in 
his  heart  that  this  doctrine  forbids  to  do  evil  to  your  neigh- 
bor under  any  pretext,  whether  for  retribution,  or  for  pro- 
tection, or  for  the  sake  of  saving  another,  so  that  if  he 
wishes  to  remain  a  Christian,  he  must  do  one  of  the  two 
things :  either  change  his  entire  life  which  is  built  on  force, 
that  is,  on  the  doing  of  evil  to  his  neighbor,  or  somehow  con- 
ceal from  himself  that  which  the  teaching  of  Christ  de- 
mands.   And  for  this  reason  men  easily  accept  false  teach- 
ings which  substitute  their  diverse  inventions  for  the  sub- 
stance of  Christianity. 

6.  Strange,  is  it  not,  that  people  accepting  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  should  rage  against  the  rule  forbidding  the  use  of 
force  under  all  circumstances. 

A  man,  accepting  the  principle  that  the  meaning  and 
the  true  activity  of  life  are  found  in  love,  rages  because  a 
sure  and  indubitable  way  to  that  activity  is  pointed  out  to 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  231 

him,  as  well  as  are  those  most  dangerous  errors  which  might 
draw  him  away  from  this  path.  As  well  might  a  navigator 
rage  because  mid  shoals  and  submerged  rocks  a  safe  channel 
is  pointed  out  to  him  for  his  course:  "Why  these  restric- 
tions?" "I  might  find  it  necessary  to  run  aground."  Just 
so  speak  the  people  who  rage  because  under  no  circum- 
stances is  it  right  to  use  force  and  to  repay  evil  with  evil. 


PUNISHMENT 


PUNISHMENT 

In  the  animal  world  evil  calls  for  evil,  and  the  animal, 
unable  to  restrain  the  evil  provoked  in  it,  endeavors  to  repay 
evil  with  evil,  not  realizing  that  evil  inevitably  augments 
evil.  But  man,  being  endowed  with  reason,  cannot  help 
seeing  that  evil  augments  evil,  and  should  therefore  refrain 
from  repaying  evil  with  evil,  but  frequently  man's  animal 
nature  gains  the  upper  hand  over  his  rational  nature,  and  he 
uses  the  very  reason  that  should  restrain  him  from  render- 
ing evil  for  evil,  in  order  to  find  an  excuse  for  the  evil  com- 
mitted by  him,  and  calls  this  evil  retributive  punishment. 

I. 

Punishment  Never  Achieves  Its  Object 

1 .  Some  say  that  evil  may  be  rendered  for  evil  in  order 
to  correct  people.     This  is  untrue.     They  deceive  them- 
selves.   Men  render  evil  for  evil,  not  to  correct  others,  but 
for  vengeance's  sake.    Evil  cannot  be  corrected  by  the  com- 
mission of  evil. 

2.  Russians  use  the  word  "to  instruct"  euphoniously  in 
the  sense  of  punishing.    You  can  teach  only  by  good  words 
and  a  good  example.    Rendering  evil  for  evil  is  not  teach- 
ing, but  corrupting. 

3.  The  superstitious  belief  that  evil  may  be  destroyed 
through  punishment  is  particularly  harmful,  because  people 
doing  evil  in  the  name  of  this  superstition,  consider  it  not 
only  permissible,  but  even  beneficial. 

4.  Punishments  and  threats  of  punishments  may  re- 
strain a  man  for  a  season  from  the  commission  of  evil  deeds, 
but  cannot  reform  him. 

5.  The  greater  portion  of  human  misery  is  due  to  the 


236  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

fact  that  sinful  men  have  usurped  the  prerogative  of  pun- 
ishment.   "Vengeance  is  Mine,  I  will  repay." 

6.  One  of  the  most  lurid  proofs  that  the  name  of 
"science"  is  a  cover  not  only  for  the  most  trifling,  but  even 
for  the  most  repulsive  things,  is  found  in  the  existence  of  a 
science  of  punishment,  which  is  the  most  ignoble  of  all  func- 
tions, fit  only  for  the  lowest  stage  of  human  development — a 
child,  or  a  savage. 

II. 

The  Superstitious  Belief  in  the  Reasonableness 
of  Punishment 

1.  Just  as  there  are  superstitions  regarding  false  gods, 
predictions,  external  methods  of  appeasing  God  and  saving 
one's  soul,  there  also  exists  a  very  common  superstition 
among  men,  that  some  people  can  compel  by  the  use  of  force 
other  people  to  lead  a  good  life.    The  superstitions  of  false 
gods,  prophecies  of  mysterious  means  of  saving  the  soul  are 
beginning  to  be  dissipated  and  are  almost  destroyed.     But 
the  superstitious  order  of  things,  permitting  the  punish- 
ment of  the  bad,  in  order  to  make  others  happy,  is  still 
adhered  to  by  all,  and  the  greatest  crimes  are  committed  in 
its  name. 

2.  Only  men  altogether  intoxicated  with  the  lust  of 
power  can  seriously  believe  that  punishment  can  better  the 
life  of  people.     You  have  only  to  give  up  the  superstition 
that  punishment  reforms  people,  in  order  to  realize  that  a 
change  in  the  life  of  a  man  can  only  be  the  result  of  an 
inner,   spiritual  change   in  the   individual   concerned,   and 
never  of  the  evil  that  some  men  commit  upon  others. 

3.  "And  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  brought  unto  Him  a 
woman  taken  in  adultery ;  and  when  they  had  set  her  in  the 
midst, 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  237 

"They  say  unto  Him,  Master,  this  woman  was  taken 
in  adultery,  in  the  very  act. 

"Now  Moses  in  the  law  commanded  us,  that  such 
should  be  stoned,  but  what  sayest  Thou?" 

"This  they  said,  tempting  Him,  that  they  might  have  to 
accuse  Him.  But  Jesus  stooped  down,  and  with  His  finger 
wrote  on  the  ground,  as  though  He  heard  them  not. 

"So  when  they  continued  asking  Him,  He  lifted  up 
Himself,  and  said  unto  them :  He  that  is  without  sin  among 
you,  let  him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her. 

"And  again  He  stooped  down  and  wrote  on  the  ground. 

"And  they  which  heard  it,  being  convicted  by  their  own 
conscience,  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  with  his  eldest, 
even  unto  the  last ;  and  Jesus  was  left  alone,  and  the  woman 
standing  in  the  midst. 

"When  Jesus  had  lifted  up  himself,  and  saw  none  but 
the  woman,  He  said  unto  her:  Woman,  where  are  those, 
thine  accusers?  Hath  no  man  condemned  thee?" 

'She  said,  No  man,  Lord.  And  Jesus  said  unto  her: 
Neither  do  I  condemn  thee ;  go,  and  sin  no  more." 

John,  viii,  3-16. 

4.  Men  invent  cunning  arguments  as  to  why  and  for 
what  purpose  they  impose  punishment.    But  in  reality  they 
always  punish  because  they  think  it  profitable  for  them- 
selves. 

5.  Because  of  their  own  meanness,  because  of  the  de- 
sire to  avenge  an  injury,  because  of  a  mistaken  idea  of  self- 
protection,  men  commit  evil,  and  then,  for  the  sake  of  self- 
justification,  they  try  to  assure  themselves  and  others  that 
they  only  did  so  in  order  to  correct  him  who  had  done  evil. 

6.  The  superstitious  belief   in  the   reasonableness  of 
punishment  finds  much  support  in  the  fact  that  the  fear  of 


238  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

punishment  restrains  people  for  a  season  from  the  commis- 
sion of  evil  deeds.  But  forbidding  under  pain  of  penalty 
does  not  lessen,  nay,  it  increases  the  craving  for  evil,  just  as 
a  dam  does  not  lessen,  but  increases  the  pressure  of  the 
river. 

7.  A  semblance  of  order  exists  in  the  human  society  to- 
day not  because  there  are  penalties  against  the  disturbance 
of  the  order,  but  because  in  spite  of  the  injurious  effect  of 
these  penalties,  people  pity  and  love  one  another. 

8.  It  is  impossible  for  one  set  of  people  to  improve  the 
life  of  the  others.    Each  man  can  only  make  his  own  life 
better. 

9.  Punishment  is  injurious  not  only  because  it  exasper- 
ates those  who  are  punished,  but  also  because  it  corrupts 
those  who  impose  punishment. 

III. 

Retribution  in  Personal  Relations  of  People 

1.  To  punish  a  man  because  his  deeds  are  evil  is  like 
heating  a  fire.    Every  man  who  has  committed  evil  is  already 
punished  by  being  deprived  of  peace  and  by  suffering  pangs 
of  conscience.    And  if  his  conscience  does  not  trouble  him, 
no  punishment  that  may  be  imposed  upon  him  will  reform 
him,  it  will  merely  exasperate  him. 

2.  The  real  punishment  for  every  evil  deed  is  that 
which  is  suffered  in  the  soul  of  the  evil  doer,  and  consists 
in  the  decrease  of  his  capacity  of  enjoying  the  blessings  of 
life. 

3.  A  man  has  done  wrong.    And  lo !  another  man,  or 
set  of  men,  can  find  nothing  better  to  do  than  to  commit  an- 
other wrong  which  they  call  punishment. 

4.  When  a  baby  slaps  the  floor  against  which  it  fell, 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  239 

the  action  is  futile,  but  intelligible,  just  as  it  is  intelligible 
why  a  man  might  hop  about  after  stubbing  his  toe.  It  is  also 
intelligible  when  a  man  who  has  been  struck  in  the  first 
moment  of  attack  strikes  back  at  his  assailant.  But  deliber- 
ately to  do  wrong  to  another,  because  he  had  done  wrong 
previously,  and  to  believe  that  it  is  the  right  thing  to  do,  is 
to  depart  from  reason  entirely. 

5.  In  some  places  they  practice  the  following  method 
of  slaying  bears :  over  a  trough  with  honey  a  heavy  weight 
is  hung  on  a  rope.    The  bear  pushes  the  weight  out  of  his 
way  in  order  to  get  at  the  honey,  but  the  weight  rebounds 
and  strikes  him.    The  bear  is  angered  and  pushes  the  weight 
with  more  force,  and  it  strikes  back  all  the  harder.    And 
this  is  continued  until  the  weight  slays  the  bear.    This  is 
just  what  happens  to  people  who  render  evil  for  evil.    Can- 
not men  have  more  reason  than  bears  ? 

6.  Men  are  creatures  endowed  with  reason,  and  there- 
fore, should  realize  that  vengeance  cannot  destroy  evil,  that 
deliverance  from  evil  is  only  in  that  which  is  contrary  to 
evil — namely  love,  and  not  in  punishment,  whatever  name 
may  be  given  it.    But  people  do  not  realize  this,  they  believe 
in  retribution. 

7.  If  we  only  had  not  learned  from  childhood  that  we 
may  render  evil  for  evil,  that  we  may  force  people  to  do 
what  we  would  have  them  do,  we  should  marvel  at  people  de- 
liberately corrupting  others  by  training  them  to  believe  that 
punishment  or  any  kind  of  force  may  be  beneficial.     We 
punish  a  child  to  teach  it  not  to  do  wrong,  and  yet  by  the 
very  act  of  punishing  it,  we  inculcate  in  its  mind  the  idea 
that  punishment  may  be  just  and  beneficial. 

And  yet  hardly  any  of  the  evil  traits  for  which  we  pun- 
ish the  child  can  be  as  harmful  as  the  evil  trait  which  we 
inculcate  in  its  mind  when  punishing  it.  "I  am  being  pun- 


240  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

ished,  therefore  punishment  must  be  good,"  so  the  child 
thinks,  and  at  the  first  opporunity  it  will  act  accordingly. 

IV. 

Retribution  in  Social  Relations 

1.  The  doctrine  of  the  propriety  of  punishment  is  not, 
nor  has  it  ever  been  of  any  help  in  the  education  of  children, 
nor  is  it  of  any  help  in  the  improvement  of  the  social  order 
or  of  the  morality  of  all  those  who  believe  in  retribution  be- 
yond the  grave;  on  the  contrary,  it  is,  and  has  always  been 
responsible  for  incalculable  misery ;  it  brutalizes  the  children, 
it  weakens  the  bonds  of  the  people  in  the  community  and 
corrupts  the  people  by  threats  of  a  hell,  robbing  virtue  of  its 
main  foundation.  , 

2.  The  reason  that  men  do  not  believe  in  rendering 
good  for  evil,  instead  of  evil  for  evil,  is  that  they  had  been 
taught  from  childhood  that  without  this  rendering  evil  for 
evil  our  entire  social  fabric  would  be  disrupted. 

3.  If  it  is  true  that  all  good  people  desire  the  discon- 
tinuance of  crimes,  robberies,  poverty  and  murders  which 
darken  the  life   of  mankind,  they  must   understand   that 
that    end  cannot    be    attained    by    force    and    retribution. 
Everything  brings  forth  after  its  own  kind,  and  until  we 
oppose  the  wrongs  and  assaults  of  evil  doers  with  deeds  of  a 
contrary  nature,  we  shall  be  doing  just  the  same  as  they,  and 
shall  thus  only  arouse,  encourage  and  develop  in  them  that 
evil  to  eradicate  which  we  claim  to  be  so  anxious.     Other- 
wise, we  shall  only  change  the  form  of  evil,  but  it  will  re- 
main the  same.  Ballou. 

4.  Decades,  centuries  perhaps  will  pass,  and  our  de- 
scendants will  marvel  at  our  punishments,  just  as  we  marvel 
now  at  the  practice  of  burning  at  the  stake  and  at  tortures. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  241 

"How  could  they  be  so  blind  to  the  senselessness,  cruelty  and 
harmfulness  of  what  they  practised?"  our  descendants  will 
inquire. 

V. 

Brotherly  Love  and  Non-Resistance  to  Evil  Must  Be 

Substituted  for  Retribution  in  the  Personal 

Relations  Between  Men 

1.  It  is  said  in  the  New  Testament  that  when  a  man 
strike  thee  upon  thy  right  cheek,  thou  shalt  turn  to  him  the 
other  also. 

This  is  the  law  of  God  for  the  Christian.  It  does  not 
matter  who  has  used  force,  nor  for  what  purpose,  force  is 
an  evil,  just  as  evil  as  the  evil  of  murder,  the  evil  of  adultery. 
It  does  not  matter  who  commits  it,  or  for  what  purpose, 
whether  one  man  or  millions  of  men,  all  evil  is  evil,  and  be- 
fore God  all  men  are  equal.  The  commandments  of  God 
are  always  obligatory  upon  all  people.  Therefore,  the  com- 
mandment of  love  must  always  be  obeyed  by  all  Christians — 
it  is  always  better  to  suffer  from  force  than  to  use  force.  It 
is  better  for  the  Christian,  taking  an  extreme  case,  to  be 
slain  than  to  slay.  If  I  am  hurt  by  others,  as  a  Christian  I 
must  reason  like  this:  I  also  was  in  the  habit  of  hurting 
people,  and  therefore  it  is  good  that  God  should  send  me  a 
trial  for  my  own  good  and  for  my  redemption  from  sins. 
And  if  I  am  injured  without  any  guilt  on  my  part,  it  is  all 
the  better  for  me,  for  this  has  happened  to  all  holy  men, 
and  if  I  act  like  them,  I  am  going  to  be  like  them.  It  is  im- 
possible to  save  your  soul  with  evil,  it  is  impossible  to  attain 
good  by  the  path  of  evil,  just  as  it  is  impossible  to  return 
home  by  going  away  from  home.  Satan  does  not  drive 
away  Satan,  evil  is  not  conquered  with  evil,  but  evil  is  merely 
added  to  evil  and  grows  stronger  thereby.  Evil  is  only  con- 
quered by  righteousness  and  goodness.  Only  with  good- 


242  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

ness,  with  goodness,  patience  and  long  suffering  can  evil  be 
extinguished.  Russian  Sectarian  Teaching. 

2.  Know  and  remember  that  the  desire  for  punishment 
is  the  desire  for  vengeance,  and  is  not  proper  to  a  rational 
creature,  such  as  man  is.    This  desire  is  only  natural  to  the 
animal  in  man.    And  therefore  man  must  endeavor  to  de- 
liver himself  of  this  desire,  and  not  to  find  excuses  for  it. 

3.  What  must  you  do  when  a  man  is  angry  with  you 
and  would  harm  you?     Many  things  can  be  done,  but  one 
thing  surely  you  must  not  do :  you  must  not  do  evil,  that  is, 
you  must  not  do  as  the  other  man  would  do  unto  you. 

4.  Do  not  say  that  if  people  are  good  to  you,  you  will 
be  good  to  them  also,  and  if  men  will  oppress  you,  you  will 
oppress  them  also.    But  if  men  do  good  unto  you,  do  good 
unto  them  likewise,  and  if  men  oppress  you,  do  not  oppress 
them  in  turn.  Mohammed. 

5.  The  doctrine  of  love  which  admitting  no  violence,  is 
important  not  only  because  it  is  good  for  man,  for  the  soul 
of  man,  to  suffer  evil,  and  to  render  good  for  evil,  but  also 
because  good  alone  can  stop  evil,  can  extinguish  it,  and  keep 
it  from  going  further.    The  true  teaching  of  love  finds  its 
strength  in  that  it  extinguishes  evil,  not  permitting  it  to  blaze 
up. 

6.  Many  years  ago  people  began  to  appreciate  the  lack 
of  harmony  between  punishment  and  the  highest  qualities  of 
the  human  soul,  and  started  to  invent  all  sorts  of  theories 
whereby  this  low  animal  tendency  might  be  justified.    Some 
say  that  punishment  is  necessary  as  a  deterrent,  others  that 
it  is  necessary  for  correction,  still  others  that  it  is  required 
so  that  justice  might  prevail,  as  though  God  could  not  estab- 
lish justice  in  the  world  without  man  to  impose  punishments. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  243 

But  all  these  theories  are  empty  phrases,  because  at  their 
root  are  evil  sentiments :  revenge,  fear,  selflove,  hatred. 
Many  theories  are  being  invented,  but  no  one  decides  to  do 
the  one  thing  needful,  namely,  to  do  nothing  at  all,  leaving 
him  who  has  sinned  to  repent  or  not  to  repent,  to  reform  or 
not  to  reform,  while  they  who  invent  all  these  theories,  and 
who  apply  them  in  practice,  might  leave  the  others  alone 
and  merely  see  that  they  themselves  lead  a  righteous  life. 

7.  Render  good  for  evil,  and  you  destroy  in  the  evil- 
doer all  the  pleasure  he  sees  in  evil. 

8.  If  you  think  that  someone  is  guilty  before  you,  for- 
get it  and  forgive.     And  you  will  learn  the  happiness  of 
forgiving. 

9.  Nothing  rejoices  people  as  much  as  to  have  their 
evil  deeds  forgiven,  and  to  be  paid  good  for  evil,  nor  is  any- 
thing as  blessed  to  him  who  does  so. 

10.  Goodness  overcomes  all  things,  but  is  itself  in- 
vincible. 

11.  You  can  withstand  all  things  but  goodness. 

Rousseau. 

12.  Render  good  for  evil,  forgive  all  men.    Only  then 
will  evil  pass  from  this  world,  when  every  man  obeys  this 
injunction.     Know  that  this  is  the  one  thing  to  be  desired, 
the  one  thing  to  strive  for,  for  it  is  the  one  thing  that  will 
deliver  us  from  the  evils  from  which  we  suffer. 

13.  He  has  the  highest  honor  before  God  who  forgives 
those  that  injure  him,  for  their  offences,  particularly  when 
they  are  in  his  power.  Mohammed. 

14.  Then  came  Peter  to  Him,  and  said,  Lord,  how  oft 
shall  my  brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him,  till  seven 
times? 


244  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  say  not  unto  thee,  until  seven 
times,  but  until  seventy  times  seven. 

Matthew,  xviii,  21,  22. 

To  forgive,  means  not  to  do  vengeance,  not  to  render 
evil  for  evil,  it  means  to  love.  If  man  believe  this,  then  the 
thing  is  not  what  the  brother  has  done,  but  what  you  ought 
to  do.  If  you  would  correct  your  neighbor  in  his  error,  tell 
him  meekly  that  he  has  done  wrong.  If  he  fail  to  hear  you, 
do  not  blame  him,  but  blame  yourself  for  not  knowing  how 
to  tell  him  suitably. 

To  ask  how  often  we  may  forgive  a  brother,  is  like  ask- 
ing a  man  who  knows  that  to  drink  wine  is  wrong,  and  has 
resolved  not  to  drink  any  more  wine,  how  often  he  ought  to 
reject  wine  when  it  is  offered  him.  Once  I  have  resolved 
not  to  drink,  I  shall  not  drink,  no  matter  how  often  wine  is 
offered  to  me.  The  same  is  true  of  forgiveness. 

15.  To  forgive  is  not  merely  to  say  "I  forgive,"  but  to 
take  out  of  your  heart  all  malice,  all  unkindly  feeling  to- 
wards him  who  has  injured  you.    And  in  order  to  be  able  to 
do  this,  remember  your  own  sins,  for  if  you  do,  you  are 
bound  to  remember  worse  deeds  of  your  own  than  those 
that  have  evoked  your  anger. 

16.  The  doctrine  of  non-resistance  to  evil  by  the  use  of 
force  is  not  some  new  law,  but  merely  points  out  the  trans- 
gression of  the  law  of  love  which  people  wrongfully  sanc- 
tion, it  merely  points  out  that  the  sanction  of  the  use  of  force 
against  your  neighbor,  whether  in  the  name  of  retribution, 
or  in  the  name  of  the  alleged  deliverance  of  yourself  or 
others  from  evil,  is  incompatible  with  love. 

17.  The  doctrine  that  if  you  love,  you  cannot  seek 
vengeance,  is  so  clear  that  it  follows  from  the  sense  of  the 
teaching  as  a  matter  of  course. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  245 

If,  therefore,  there  had  not  been  a  word  said  in  the 
Christian  teaching  to  the  effect  that  a  Christian  must  render 
good  for  evil,  and  must  love  his  enemies  and  those  that  hate 
him,  any  man  understanding  the  teaching  could  deduce  from 
it  this  commandment  of  love  for  himself. 

18.  In  order  to  understand  the  teaching  of  Christ  about 
rendering  good  for  evil,  it  must  be  understood  correctly,  and 
not  as  now  interpreted,  with  excisions  and  additions.    The 
entire  teaching  of  Christ  is  in  this:  man  lives  not  for  his 
body,  but  for  his  soul,  to  fulfill  the  will  of  God.    But  the  will 
of  God  is  that  men  should  love  one  another,  should  love  all 
men.    How  then  can  man  love  all  men  and  do  evil  to  others  ? 
He  who  believes  in  the  teachings  of  Christ,  no  matter  what  is 
done  to  him,  will  not  do  that  which  is  contrary  to  love,  will 
not  do  evil  to  others. 

19.  Without  the  prohibition  of  rendering  evil  for  evil, 
the  whole  Christian  doctrine  is  empty  words. 

20.  Then  came  Peter  to  Him,  and  said,  Lord,  how  oft 
shall  my  brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him?    Till 
seven  times  ? 

Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  say  not  unto  thee  until  seven 
times,  but  until  seventy  times  seven. 

Therefore  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  likened  unto  a 
certain  king,  which  would  take  account  of  his  servants. 

"And  when  he  had  begun  to  reckon,  one  was  brought 
unto  him,  which  owed  him  ten  thousand  talents. 

But  forasmuch  as  he  had  not  to  pay,  his  lord  com- 
manded him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife,  and  children,  and  all 
that  he  had,  and  payment  to  be  made. 

The  servant  therefore  fell  down,  and  worshipped  him, 
saying,  Lord,  have  patience  with  me,  and  I  will  pay  thee  all. 

Then  the  lord  of  that  servant  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  loosed  him  and  forgave  him  the  debt. 


246  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

But  the  same  servant  went  out,  and  found  one  of  his 
fellow-servants,  which  owed  him  an  hundred  pence;  and  he 
laid  hands  on  him,  and  took  him  by  the  throat  saying,  Pay 
me  that  thou  owest. 

And  his  fellow-servant  fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  be- 
sought him,  saying,  Have  patience  with  me,  and  I  will  pay 
thee  all. 

And  he  would  not,  but  went  and  cast  him  into  prison, 
till  he  should  pay  the  debt. 

So  when  his  fellow-servants  saw  what  was  done,  they 
were  very  sorry,  and  camfc  and  told  unto  their  lord  all  that 
was  done. 

Then  his  lord,  after  (hat  he  had  called  him,  said  unto 
him,  O  thou  wicked  servaiit,  I  forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  be- 
cause thou  desirest  me : 

Shouldst  not  thou  also  have  had  compassion  on  thy 
fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  ? 

And  his  lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the  tor- 
mentors, till  he  should  pay  all  that  was  due  unto  him. 

So  likewise  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do  also  unto  you, 
if  ye  from  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brother 
their  trespasses.  Matthew,  xvm,  21-35. 

VI. 

Non-Resistance  to  Evil  by  Force  is  as  Essential  in  Social 
as  in  Personal  Relations 

1.  People  insist  on  remaining  as  evil  as  they  were,  yet 
they  desire  that  life  nevertheless  should  improve. 

2.  We  do  not  know,  we  cannot  know  wherein  consists 
personal  happiness,  but  we- firmly  know  that  the  attainment 
of  this  universal  happiness  is  possible  only  with  the  fulfill- 
ment of  that  eternal  law  of  goodness  which  is  revealed  to 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  247 

every  man  both  in  the  treasures  of  human  wisdom  and  in  his 
own  heart. 

3.  It  is  said  that  it  is  impossible  not  to  render  evil  for 
evil,  for  otherwise  the  evil  would  dominate  over  the  good.    I 
believe  just  the  opposite;  only  then  will  the  evil  dominate 
over  the  good,  when  the  people  will  think  that  it  is  permitted 
to  render  evil  for  evil,  just  as  is  now  being  done  among 
Christian  nations.     The  evil  have  now  dominion  over  the 
good,  because  it  is  inculcated  in  all  that  it  is  not  only  per- 
mitted, but  even  directly  beneficial  to  do  evil  to  others. 

4.  It  is  said  that  when  we  cease  to  threaten  the  evil 
with  punishment,  the  present  order  of  things  will  be  dis- 
rupted, and  everything  will  perish.    One  might  as  well  say, 
when  the  river  ice  melts,  everything  will  be  ruined.    Nothing 
of  the  kind.     Boats  will  come,  and  the  real  life  will  com- 
mence. 

5.  Speaking  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  learned  writers 
generally  assume  that  Christianity,  in  its  true  meaning,  is 
not  adapted  to  life,  and  regard  this  as  a  definitely  settled 
question. 

"Why  dwell  in  dreams?  We  must  attend  to  practical 
affairs.  We  must  change  the  relations  between  capital  and 
labor,  we  must  organize  labor  and  land  ownership,  open  up 
markets,  found  colonies  for  the  distribution  of  surplus  popu- 
lation, we  must  define  the  relations  between  state  and 
Church,  we  must  form  alliances  and  secure  the  safety  of  our 
dominions,  etc. 

"We  must  attend  to  serious  matters,  things  which  merit 
care  and  interest,  and  not  to  dreams  of  a  world  order  where 
men  turn  the  other  cheek,  when  their  right  cheek  is  struck, 
yield  a  coat  when  robbed  of  a  shirt,  and  live  like  the  birds  of 
the  air, — all  this  is  sheer  nonsense;"  thus  argue  many,  for- 


248  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

getting  that  the  root  of  all  these  questions  is  in  the  very 
thing  that  they  call  sheer  nonsense. 

And  the  root  of  all  these  problems  is  for  that  reason  in 
the  very  thing  these  people  consider  sheer  nonsense,  that  all 
of  these  problems,  from  the  problem  of  the  struggle  of  capi- 
tal and  labor  down  to  the  problems  of  nationalities  and  of 
relations  between  the  state  and  the  Church,  all  turn  on  the 
point  whether  there  are  cases  when  man  may  and  ought  to 
do  evil  to  his  neighbor  or  whether  there  are  no  such  cases 
nor  indeed,  can  be  for  a  rational  human  being. 

So  that,  in  reality,  all  of  these  supposedly  essential 
problems  are  reduced  to  one:  is  it  rational  or  irrational, 
therefore,  necessary  or  unnecessary  to  render  evil  for  evil  ? 
There  was  a  time  when  men  did  not,  could  not  understand 
the  meaning  of  this  question,  but  the  succession  of  terrible 
sufferings  amid  which  the  human  race  is  living,  has  led 
men  to  realize  the  necessity  of  deciding  this  problem  prac- 
tically. Yet  this  problem  was  definitely  settled  by  the  teach- 
ing of  Christ  nineteen  centuries  ago.  Therefore  it  is  not 
meet  that  we  pretend  that  we  do  not  know  this  problem  or 
its  solution. 

VII. 

The  True  View  of  the  Effects  of  the  Doctrine  of  Non- 

Resistance  to  Evil  by   Force  is  Beginning  to 

Sink  into  the  Conscience  of  Humanity 

1.  Punishment  is  a  theory  which  mankind  is  beginning 
to  outgrow. 

2.  The  spirit  of  Jesus  which  many  endeavor  to  stifle  is 
nevertheless   ever  more   brightly   manifested   everywhere. 
Has  not  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  penetrated  into  the  con- 
science of  nations  ?    Are  they  not  beginning  to  see  the  light  ? 
Have  not  the  ideas  of  rights  and  obligations  become  clearer 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  249 

to  all  ?  Do  we  not  hear  from  all  sides  a  call  for  more  equita- 
ble laws,  for  institutions  to  protect  the  weak,  and  based  on 
the  principles  of  justice  and  equality?  Is  not  the  old 
enmity  between  those  who  had  been  separated  by  force 
gradually  dying  out?  Do  not  the  nations  feel  themselves 
to  be  brothers  ? 

This  is  all  labor  in  embryo,  and  ready  to  develop,  a  labor 
of  love  which  will  lift  the  sin  from  the  earth,  which  will  open 
up  a  new  path  of  life  to  the  nations,  the  inner  law  of  which 
will  not  be  force  but  the  love  of  one  man  for  another. 

Lamenais. 


VANITY 


VANITY 

Nothing  so  mars  the  life  of  man,  nothing  so  surely  robs 
him  of  true  happiness,  as  the  habit  of  living  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  precepts  of  the  wise  men  of  our  world,  not  in 
accordance  with  one's  conscience,  but  in  accordance  with 
that  which  is  accepted  as  good  and  approved  by  the  people 
among  whom  one  lives. 

I. 

Wherein  Consists  the  Error  of  Vanity 

1.  One  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  evil  life  of  men  is 
in  doing  that  which  we  do  not  for  our  body's  sake,  not  for 
out  soul's  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  receiving  the  approba- 
tion of  man. 

2.  No  temptation  holds  men  so  long  in  its  thrall,  nor 
removes  them  so  far  from  the  realization  of  the  meaning  of 
human  life  and  its  true  happiness,  as  the  desire  for  fame,  and 
popular  approbation,  honors  and  praise. 

Man  can  free  himself  from  this  temptation  only  by 
stubborn  struggle  with  self  and  constant  challenge  of  his 
consciousness  of  oneness  with  God,  leading  him  to  seek  the 
approval  of  God  alone. 

3.  We  are  not  content  to  live  our  true  inner  life,  we 
crave  to  live  another,  a  fictitious  life  in  the  thoughts  of  other 
people,  and  for  that  purpose  we  force  ourselves  to  appear 
other  than  we  really  are.    We  unceasingly  strive  to  adorn 
tfeis  fictitious  person,  but  take  no  care  of  the  real  creature 
which  we  actually  are.    If  we  are  at  peace  in  our  soul,  if  we 
believe,  if  we  love,  we  hurry  to  tell  others  about  .it  so  that 
these  virtues  should  be  not  ours  alone,  but  should  be  also  at- 
tributed to  the  fictitious  person  in  the  minds  of  others. 

In  order  to  make  people  think  that  we  have  virtues,  we 


254  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

are  even  ready  to  give  them  up.     We  are  ready  to  be 
cowards,  if  only  we  gain  reputation  for  bravery.    Pascal. 

4.  One  of  the  most  dangerous  and  injurious  catch 
phrases  is :  "Every  one  says  so." 

5.  Much  evil  is  done  by  men  for  the  gratification  of 
their  carnal  passions,  but  still  more  for  the  sake  of  gaining 
praise  for  human  glory. 

6.  When  it  is  difficult,  nay  almost  impossible  to  account 
for  human  actions,  be  assured  that  the  cause  of  these  actions 
is  the  thirst  for  human  glory. 

7.  A  baby  is  rocked  not  to  relieve  it  from  that  which 
causes  it  to  cry,  but  to  make  it  stop  crying.     We  do  the 
same  with  our  conscience,  when  we  stifle  its  voice  in  order 
to  please  people.    We  do  not  calm  our  conscience,  but  at- 
tain what  we  seek  for :  we  no  longer  hear  its  voice. 

8.  Pay  no  heed  to  the  number,  but  to  the  character  of 
your  admirers.     It  may  be  disagreeable  to  displease  good 
people,  but  failure  to  please  evil  people  is  always  good. 

Seneca. 

9.  Our  greatest  expenditures  are  incurred  by  us  to 
make  ourselves  like  other  people.    We  never  spend  as  much 
on  the  mind  or  on  the  heart.  Emerson. 

10.  In  every  good  deed  there  is  a  particle  of  a  desire 
for  human  approbation.     But  woe  if  we  do  things  exclu- 
sively to  obtain  human  glory. 

11.  One  man  asked  another  why  he  did  things  which 
he  did  not  like. 

"Because  everybody  is  doing  so,"  he  answered. 
"I  would  not  say  everybody.     I,  for  instance,  do  not 
happen  to  do  so,  then  there  are  quite  a  few  others." 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  255 

"If  not  everybody,  still  very  many,  the  great  majority 
of  people." 

"But  tell  me,  are  there  more  wise  people,  or  foolish  peo- 
ple in  this  world  ?" 

"Certainly  there  are  more  foolish  people." 
"Then  you  do  what  you  do  to  imitate  fools." 
12.    Man  grows  easily  accustomed  to  the  most  wicked 
life,  if  only  everybody  around  him  leads  a  wicked  life. 

II. 

The  Fact  that  Many  People  are  of  One  Opinion  Does  Not 
Prove  that  this  Opinion  is  Correct 

1.  Evil  is  no  less  an  evil  because  many  people  do  evil, 
and  even,  as  is  frequently  done,  boast  of  it. 

2.  The  more  people  hold  to  one  belief,  the  more  cau- 
tious must  be  our  attitude  to  that  belief,  and  the  more  care- 
fully must  we  examine  it. 

3.  When  we  are  told,  "Do  as  others  do,"  it  almost 
means,  "Do  wrong."  La  Bruyere. 

4.  Learn  to  do  what  "everybody"  wants,  and  before 
long  you  will  commit  evil  deeds  and  believe  them  to  be 
good. 

5.  If  we  only  knew  the  motive  back  of  the  praise  be- 
stowed upon  us,  or  of  the  censure  passed  upon  us,  we  should 
cease  to  value  praise,  and  to  fear  censure. 

6.  Man  has  his  own  tribunal  within  himself,  his  con- 
science.    Only  its  judgment  should  be  cherished. 

7.  Search  for  the  best  man  among  those  who  are  con- 
demned by  the  world. 

8.  If  the  multitude  hates  someone  it  is  well  first  to 
judge  very  carefully  why  it  is  so,  before  joining  in  con- 


256  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

demning  him.  If  the  multitude  is  partial  to  someone,  it  is 
well  to  judge  very  carefully  why  it  is  so,  before  forming  an 
opinion.  Confucius. 

9.  Our  life  cannot  be  harmed  so  much  by  evil  doers 
who  would  corrupt  us,  as  by  the  unthinking  multiude  which 
drags  us  along  like  a  maelstrom. 

III. 

Ruinous  Effects  of  Vanity 

1.  Society  says  to  the  man:  think  as  we  think,  believe 
as  we  believe ;  eat  and  drink  as  we  eat  and  drink ;  dress  as 
we  dress.    If  any  fail  to  comply  with  these  demands,  society 
will  torment  them  with  ridicule,  gossip  and  abuse.    It  is  hard 
not  to  submit,  but  if  you  submit,  you  are  still  worse  off; 
submit,  and  you  are  no  longer  a  free  man ;  you,  are  a  slave. 

Lucy  Mattory. 

2.  It  is  meritorious  to  study  for  the  sake  of  the  soul,  in 
order  to  be  wiser  and  better.    Such  study  is  useful  to  people. 
But  when  people  study  for  the  sake  of  human  glory,  in  order 
to  be  reputed  as  men  of  learning,  such  study  is  not  only  use- 
less, but  injurious,  and  renders  them  less  wise  and  kindly 
than  they  had  been  before  taking  up  these  studies. 

Chinese  wisdom. 

3.  Do  not  praise  yourself,  even  do  not  let  others  praise 
you.    Praise  ruins  the  soul,  because  it  substitutes  desire  for 
human  glory  in  place  of  caring  for  the  soul. 

4.  We  frequently  see  that  a  good,  wise  and  just  man, 
although  he  sees  the  wrong  of  warfare,  meat  eating,  robbing 
human  creatures  of  necessities,  condemning  people,  and  of 
many  other  evil  deeds,  yet  calmly  persists  in  following  them. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  257 

Why  is  this  so?  Because  he  values  the  opinion  of 
others  more  than  the  verdict  of  his  own  conscience. 

5.  Only  care  for  the  opinion  of  others  can  explain  that 
most  common  and  yet  most  strange  human  action :  a  lie.    A 
man  knows  one  thing  but  asserts  another.    Why  ?    The  only 
explanation  is  that  he  fears  not  to  receive  praise  if  he  told 
the  truth,  and  believes  that  he  will  be  praised,  if  he  tells  a 
falsehood. 

6.  Failing  to  respect  tradition  has  not  done  one-thou- 
sandth part  of  the  harm  that  is  done  through  veneration  of 
old  customs. 

Men  have  long  since  ceased  to  believe  many  old  cus- 
toms, but  still  submit  to  them,  because  they  believe  that  the 
majority  of  people  will  condemn  them,  should  they  cease  to 
submit  to  customs  in  which  they  no  longer  have  any  faith. 

IV. 

Combating  the  Error  of  Vanity 

1.  In  the  first  period  of  his  life,  in  his  infancy,  man 
lives  mainly  for  his  body ;  he  eats,  drinks,  plays  and  is  merry. 
This  is  the  first  step.     The  older  he  grows  the  more  he 
begins  to  worry  about  the  opinion  of  people  among  whom  he 
lives,  and  for  the  sake  of  that  opinion,  he  begins  to  forget 
the  demands  of  his  body :  food,  drink,  play  and  amusements. 
This  is  the  second  stage.    The  third  and  final  stage  is  when 
man  submits  more  and  more  to  the  demands  of  his  soul,  and 
for  the  sake  of  his  soul,  neglects  the  body,  amusements  and 
human  glory. 

Vanity  is  the  first  and  crudest  remedy  against  animal 
passions.  But  later  you  must  deliver  yourself  of  the  remedy. 
There  is  but  one  cure,  to  live  for  the  soul. 

2.  It  is  difficult  for  one  man  to  recede  from  accepted 
usage,  and  yet  every  step  towards  self-betterment  brings  you 
face  to  face  with  accepted  usage  and  subjects  you  to  the  cen- 


258  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

sure  of  people.    The  man  who  has  set  the  aim  of  his  life  in 
striving  towards  perfecting  himself  must  be  ready  for  this. 

3.  It  is  bad  to  annoy  people  by  departing  from  their 
accepted  usage,  but  it  is  worse  to  depart  from  the  demands 
of  conscience  and  reason  by  humoring  popular  usage. 

4.  Now  as  always  it  is  the  practice  to  ridicule  him  who 
sits  in  silence;  both  he  who  talks  a  great  deal  and  he  who 
says  little,  are  subject  to  ridicule;  there  is  no  man  on  earth 
that  escapes  criticism.    While  there  has  never  been  anyone, 
no  one  exists,  or  ever  will  exist,  who  would  be  always  con- 
demned in  all  things,  neither  is  there  any  one  who  would  be 
always  praised  for  all  things.     Therefore  it  is  not  worth 
while  to  worry  about  human  censure  or  human  praise. 

5.  The  most  important  thing  for  you  to  know  is  what 
you  think  of  yourself,  for  on  this  depends  your  happiness  or 
lack  of  happiness,  but  not  on  what  others  think  of  you. 
Therefore,  do  not  worry  about  the  judgment  of  people,  but 
strive  to  preserve  your  spiritual  life  in  vigor,  nor  allow  it  to 
weaken. 

6.  You  fear  that  you  will  be  scorned  for  your  meek- 
ness, but  just  men  cannot  scorn  you  because  of  it,  and  others 
do  not  matter;  therefore,  pay  no  heed  to  their  judgment. 
Why  should  a  good  cabinet  maker  feel  hurt  if  a  man  having 
no  knowledge  of  cabinet  making  fails  to  approve  his  work  ? 

Men  who  scorn  you  because  of  your  meekness  have  no 
knowledge  of  what  is  good  for  man.  Why  should  you  heed 
their  judgment?  Epictetus. 

7.  It  is  time  for  man  to  know  his  worth.    Is  he  then 
some  illegitimately  born  creature?     It  is  time  for  him  to 
cease  casting  timid  glances  about  him,  to  see  whether  he  has 
succeeded  in  pleasing  people  or  not.    No,  let  my  head  rest 
solid  and  square  on  my  shoulders.    Life  was  given  me  not 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  259 

for  show,  but  for  me  to  live  by.  I  recognize  my  obligation 
to  live  for  my  soul.  And  I  will  pay  heed  not  to  what  people 
think  of  me,  but  to  my  life,  whether  I  am  or  am  not  fulfilling 
my  destiny  before  Him  who  sent  me  into  the  world. 

Emerson. 

8.  Every  man  who  from  his  youth  on  has  yielded  him- 
self to  low  animal  passions  persists  in  yielding  to  them,  al- 
thought  his  conscience  demands  from  him  other  things.    He 
does  so  because  others  are  doing  the  same.    Others  are  doing 
it  for  the  same  reason  as  he.    There  is  only  one  way  out  of 
this :  every  man  must  free  himself  from  dependence  on  the 
opinions  of  others. 

9.  An  hermit  had  a  vision.    He  saw  an  angel  of  God 
descending  from  Heaven  with  a  shining  crown  in  his  hand 
and  looking  about  to  see  on  whom  to  impose  it.    And  the 
heart  of  the  hermit  burned  within  him.    And  he  said  to  the 
angel  of  God:    "How  can  I  merit  this  shining  crown?    I  will 
do  everything  to  receive  this  reward." 

And  the  angel  said:  "Look."  And  turning  about  the 
angel  pointed  with  his  finger  to  the  lands  of  the  North.  And 
the  hermit  looked  and  saw  a  huge,  black  cloud,  which  cov- 
ered half  of  the  firmament  and  was  descending  to  the  earth. 
And  the  cloud  parted,  and  there  issued  from  it  a  vast  multi- 
tude of  black  Ethiopians  advancing  towards  the  hermit;  but 
back  of  them  all  stood  a  terrible  Ethiopian  giant,  who  was 
so  tall  that  while  his  immense  feet  touched  the  earth,  his 
shaggy  head,  with  its  terrifying  eyes,  reached  up  to  Heaven. 

"Fight  with  these,  conquer  them,  and  I  shall  place  the 
crown  upon  your  head." 

And  the  hermit  was  terrified,  and  said : 

"I  can  and  I  shall  fight  with  all  of  them,  but  this  great 
Ethiopian,  with  his  feet  on  the  ground  and  his  head  in  the 


260  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

sky,-  it  is  beyond  human  strength  to  fight  with  him,  I  cannot 
overcome  him." 

"Madman,"  replied  the  angel  of  God,  "all  these  small 
Ethiopians  whom  you  will  not  fight  because  of  the  fear  of 
the  huge  Ethiopian  back  of  them,  they  are  the  sinful  desires 
of  man,  and  they  can  be  overcome.  But  the  Ethiopian  giant 
is  human  glory,  for  the  sake  of  which  men  live  in  sin.  It  is 
needless  to  fight  him.  He  is  hollow  and  empty.  Overcome 
sin,  and  he  will  vanish  from  the  earth  of  his  own  accord." 

V. 
Take  Heed  of  Your  Soul,  and  Not  of  Your  Reputation 

1.  The  quickest  and  surest  means  to  be  reputed  vir- 
tuous is  not  to  appear  such  before  men,  but  to  labor  over 
self,  in  order  to  become  virtuous.  Socrates. 

2.  To  compel  people  to  consider  us  good  is  much 
harder  than  to  become  such  as  we  would  have  people  think 
us  to  be.  Lichtenberg. 

3.  He  who  does  not  think  by  himself,  subjects  himself 
to  the  thoughts  of  others.    To  put  one's  mind  in  subjection 
to  others  is  a  more  humiliating  mode  of  slavery  than  the  sub- 
jection of  the  body.     Think  with  your  own  head,  do  not 
worry  about  what  people  will  say  about  you. 

4.  If  you  care  about  the  approbation  of  people,  you 
will  never  decide  upon  anything,  for  some  people  approve 
one  thing,  others  another.    It  is  necessary  to  decide  for  your- 
self, and  it  is  much  simpler. 

5.  In  order  to  show  yourself  off  before  men  you  either 
praise  yourself  or  censure  yourself  before  others.     If  you 
praise  yourself,  people  will  not  believe  you.    If  you  censure 
yourself,  people  will  think  worse  of  you  than  your  words 
warrant.     It  is  best  to  say  nothing  about  yourself,  and  to 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  261 

care  for  the  judgment  of  your  own  conscience  and  not  for 
the  judgment  of  the  people. 

6.  No  man  shows  such  regard  for  virtue  and  such  loy- 
alty to  it  as  he  who  willingly  loses  a  good  reputation  in  order 
to  remain  good  in  his  heart.  Seneca. 

7.  If  a  man  has  learned  to  live  only  for  human  glory, 
he  thinks  it  a  hardship  to  be  thought  stupid,  ignorant  or 
very  wicked,  because  of  failing  to  do  what  everybody  else  is 
doing.    But  all  hard  things  require  work.     And  in  this  in- 
stance work  must  be  done  from  two  points  of  view;  you 
must  learn  to  scorn  the  judgment  of  people,  and  again  you 
must  learn  to  live  for  deeds,  which  are  good,  although  people 
condemn  you  for  doing  them. 

8.  I  must  act  as  I  think  is  right,  and  not  as  others 
think.    This  rule  holds  true  in  ivery  day  life  just  as  it  does 
in  the  intellectual  life.    This  is  a  hard  rule,  because  you  are 
apt  to  meet  people  everywhere  who  think  that  they  know 
your  duties  better  than  you.    It  is  easy  to  live  in  the  world 
in  accord  with  the  world's  opinion,  but  in  solitude  it  is  easy 
to  follow  your  own;  blessed  is  the  man  who  in  the  midst  of 
a  multitude  does  what  he,  in  solitude  has  determined  is  the 
right  thing  to  do. 

9.  All  people  live  and  act,  both  in  accord  with  their 
own  thoughts  and  with  those  of  others.    The  principal  dif- 
ference between  people  is  in  ^ic  extent  to  which  they  live 
according   to   their   own   thoughts   and   according   to   the 
thoughts  of  others. 

10.  It  seems  passing  strange  that  people  should  live 
neither  for  their  own  happiness  nor  for  that  of  others,  but 
merely  for  the  praise  of  other  people.     Yet  how  few  men 
there  are  who  do  not  value  the  approbation  of  their  acts  by 
strangers  more  highly  than  their  own  happiness  and  that  of 
others. 


262  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

11.  Man   will   never  be  accorded  the   praise  of  all 
without  exception.    If  he  is  good,  evil  men  will  find  some- 
thing evil  in  him,  and  will  either  ridicule  him  or  criticise 
him.    If  he  is  bad,  good  men  will  not  approve  of  him.    In 
order  to  obtain  the  praise  of  everybody,  man  must  pretend 
to  be  good  before  good  people,  and  bad  before  bad  people. 
But  both  the  good  and  the  bad  will  in  time  discover  his 
hypocrisy  and  will  despise  him.    There  is  only  one  remedy : 
be  good,  do  not  worry  about  the  opinion  of  others,  and  do 
not  seek  the  reward  of  your  life  in  the  opinion  of  the  people, 
but  in  your  own. 

"No  man  putteth  a  piece  of  new  cloth  unto  an  old  gar- 
ment, for  that  which  is  put  in  to  fill  it  up  taketh  from  the 
garment,  and  the  rent  is  made  worse." 

"Neither  do  men  put  new  wine  into  old  bottles,  else  the 
bottles  break,  and  the  wine  runneth  out,  and  the  bottles 
perish;  but  they  put  new  wine  into  new  bottles,  and  both 
are  preserved."  Matthew  ix,  16,  17. 

This  means  that  in  order  to  begin  to  live  a  better  life 
(and  to  make  your  life  ever  better,  therein  is  all  the  life  of 
man)  you  cannot  stick  to  old  habits,  you  must  form  new 
habits.  You  cannot  follow  what  the  ancients  thought  good, 
but  you  must  form  new  habits  of  your  own,  without  caring 
about  what  people  consider  good  or  evil. 

12.  It  is  hard  to  discern  whether  you  serve  the  people 
for  the  sake  of  your  soul  or  God,  or  for  the  sake  of  their 
praise.    There  is  only  one  way  to  make  sure:  if  you  per- 
form a  deed  which  you  think  is  good,  ask  yourself  would  you 
still  persist  in  it,  if  you  knew  in  advance  that  it  would  re- 
main unknown  to  all.    If  your  answer  is  that  you  will  do  it 
anyhow,  then  surely  that  which  you  do  is  done  for  the  sake 
of  your  soul,  for  God. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  263 

VI. 

He  Who  Lives  the  True  Life  Does  Not  Require  the 
Praise  of  the  People 

1.  Live  alone,  said  a  sage.     This  means,  decide  the 
problem  of  your  life  alone  with  your  own  self,  with  the  God 
who  lives  within  you,  and  not  in  accordance  with  the  ad- 
vice or  the  criticism  of  other  people. 

2.  The  advantage  of  serving  God  as  compared  with 
serving  people  is  that  before  people  you  involuntarily  seek 
to  show  yourself  in  the  most  favorable  light  and  are  an- 
noyed if  you  are  placed  in  an  unfavorable  light.    There  is 
nothing  like  that  before  God.    He  knows  you  as  you  are. 
No  one  can  either  over-praise  you  or  slander  you  before 
Him,  so  that  you  need  not  seek  to  seem  before  him,  but  just 
to  be  good. 

3.  If  you  would  have  peace,  try  to  please  God.    Differ- 
ent people  crave  different  things:  to-day  they  desire  one 
thing,  to-morrow  another.    You  can  never  please  the  people. 
But  God  living  within  you  always  desires  one  thing,  and 
you  know  what  He  desires. 

4.  Man  must  serve  one  of  the  two :  either  his  soul  or  his 
body.    If  he  would  serve  his  soul,  he  must  fight  against  sin. 
If  he  would  serve  his  body,  there  is  no  need  to  fight  against 
sin.    He  need  only  do  that  which  is  accepted  by  all. 

5.  There  is  only  one  way  to  have  no  faith  in  God  what- 
ever; it  is  always  to  think  public  opinion  right,  and  to  pay 
no  attention  to  one's  inner  voice.  Ruskin. 

6.  When  we  are  seated  upon  a  moving  vessel  and  our 
eyes  are  fixed  upon  an  object  on  the  same  vessel,  we  do  not 
notice  that  we  are  moving.     But  if  we  look  aside,  upon 
something  that  is  not  moving  along  with  us,  for  instance, 


264  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

upon  the  coast,  we  shall  notice  immediately  that  we  are 
moving.  It  is  the  same  with  life.  When  the  whole  world 
lives  a  life  that  is  not  right,  we  fail  to  notice  it,  but  should 
one  only  awake  spiritually  and  live  a  godly  life,  the  evil  life 
of  the  others  become  immediately  apparent.  And  the  others 
always  persecute  those  who  do  not  live  like  the  rest. 

Pascal 

7.  Train  yourself  to  live  so  as  not  to  think  of  public 
opinion,  but  to  live  only  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  law  of 
your  life,  the  will  of  God.  Such  solitary  life,  with  God 
alone  as  companion,  furnishes  no  incentive  to  good  deeds  in 
human  glory,  but  it  gives  your  soul  a  feeling  of  freedom  and 
peace  and  stability  and  such  an  assured  knowledge  that  your 
path  is  true,  as  he  who  lives  for  human  glory  can  never 
know. 

And  every  man  can  train  himself  to  live  so. 


FALSE   RELIGIONS 


FALSE  RELIGIONS 

False  religions  are  religions  which  people  follow  not 
because  they  have  need  of  them  for  their  souls'  sake,  but 
because  they  have  faith  in  them  who  expound  them. 

I. 

Wherein  Consists  the  Delusion  of  False  Religions? 

1.  People  frequently  imagine  that  they  believe  in  the 
law  of  God,  whereas  they  pin  their  faith  merely  to  that  in 
which  all  believe.    All,  however,  believe  not  in  the  law  of 
God,  but  call  that  the  law  of  God  which  suits  their  life  and 
does  not  interfere  with  it. 

2.  When  people  live  in  sin  and  error,  they  cannot  be 
at  peace.    Their  conscience  accuses  them.    Therefore  such 
people  must  do  one  of  two  things :  either  they  must  ac- 
knowledge their  guilt  before  men  and  God  and  cease  from 
sin,  or  continue  their  life  of  sin  and  their  evil  deeds  and 
call  such  evil  deeds  good.    It  is  for  this  class  of  people  that 
the  teachings  of  false  religions  are  designed,  since  it  is  pos- 
sible according  to  them  to  lead  an  evil  life  and  to  feel  jus- 
tified in  doing  so. 

3.  It  is  bad  enough  to  lie  to  other  people,  but  it  is  far 
worse  to  lie  to  oneself.     It  is  harmful  particularly  for  the 
reason  that  if  you  lie  to  others  you  may  be  exposed,  but  if 
you  lie  to  yourself  there  is  no  one  to  expose  you.    There- 
fore take  care  not  to  lie  to  yourself,  especially  in  the  mat- 
ters of  faith. 

4.  "Believe  or  be  damned."    Herein  is  the  main  source 
of  evil.    If  a  man  accepts  without  reasoning  that  which  he 
should  settle  by  the  light  of  his  reason,  he  loses  in  the  end 
the  capacity  of  reasoning,  and  not  only  falls  into  condemna- 


268  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tion  himself,  but  leads  his  neighbors  into  sin  as  well.  The 
salvation  of  people  consists  in  everyone  learning  to  think 
with  his  own  mind.  Emerson 

5.  The  harm  done  by  false  religions  can  neither  be 
weighed  nor  measured. 

Religion  is  the  determination  of  the  attitude  of  man 
towards  God  and  the  world,  and  the  definition  of  his  call- 
ing as  derived  from  this  attitude.  What  then  can  be  a 
man's  life  if  both  this  attitude  and  the  definition  of  his 
calling  derived  from  it  are  false? 

6.  There  can  be  three  kinds  of  false  beliefs.    The  first 
is  the  belief  in  the  possibility  of  learning  by  experience  that 
which  according  to  the  laws  of  experience  is  impossible. 
The  second  is  in  the  admission  for  our  moral  perfecting  of 
things  which  cannot  be  conceived  by  our  reason.    The  third 
is  the  belief  in  the  possibility  of  summoning  by  supernatural 
means  mysterious  activities  whereby  the  Deity  may  influ- 
ence our  morality.  Kant. 

II. 

False  Religions  Respond  to  the  Lowest,  Not  to  the 
Highest  Needs  of  the  Human  Soul 

1.  The  only  true  religion  contains  nothing  but  laws, 
that  is   those  moral   principles   the  absolute  necessity  of 
which  we  can  recognize  and  study  ourselves  and  which 
we  can  acknowledge  by  our  reason.  Kant. 

2.  Man  can  please  God  only  by  good  living.     There- 
fore all  things  outside  of  good,  upright  and  clean  living 
whereby  a  man  thinks  he  can  please  God  are  a  crude  and  a 
harmful  delusion.  Kant. 

3.  The  penance  of  a  man  who  chastises  himself  in- 
stead of  taking  advantage  of  the  disposition  of  his  spirit 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  269 

in  order  to  change  his  mode  of  life  is  wasted  labor;  such 
penance  has  in  addition  the  bad  effect  of  making  him  think 
that  by  this  act  of  penance  he  has  wiped  out  his  score  of 
debts  and  he  takes  no  further  care  to  perfect  himself,  which 
is  the  only  thing  conscious  when  conscious  of  moral  faults. 

Kant. 

4.  It  is  bad  enough  when  man  does  not  know  God,  but 
it  is  worse  when  he  acknowledges  that  as  God  which  is  not 
God.  Lactantius. 

5.  It  is  said  God  created  man  in  his  image ;  one  might 
rather  say  that  man  has  created  God  in  his  own  image. 

Lichtenberg. 

6.  When  some  speak  of  heaven  as  of  a  place  where 
the  blessed  abide  they  usually  imagine  it  somewhere  high 
up  in  the  unfathomable  cosmic  spaces.    But  they  forget  that 
our  own  earth,  viewed  from  those  cosmic  spaces  appears 
like  a  celestial  star  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  other  worlds 
might  with  as  much  right  point  to  our  own  earth  and  say: 
"Look  at  that  star,  the  abode  of  eternal  bliss,  the  heavenly 
refuge  prepared  for  us  where  we  shall  enter  some  day." 
In  the  curious  error  of  our  mind  the  flight  of  our  faith  is 
always  associated  with  the  idea  of  ascension,  without  realiz- 
ing that  no  matter  how  high  we  might  soar  we  should  still 
have  to  descend  somewhere  in  order  to  set  foot  firmly  in 
some  other  world. 

7.  To  ask  God  for  material  things,  such  as  rain,  re- 
covery from  illness  or  delivery  from  enemies,  is  wrong  if 
for  no  reason  than  because  people  may  ask  God  at  one 
time  for  opposite  things,  but  principally  because  in  the  ma- 
terial world  we  are  given  all  that  we  need.    We  might  pray 
God  to  help  us  live  the  life  of  the  spirit,  such  a  life  that 


270  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

therein  no  matter  what  occurred  it  would  redound  to  our 
blessing.  But  a  rogatoiy  prayer  for  material  things  is  a 
self-deception. 

8.  True  prayer  is  to  withdraw  from  all  that  is  of  the 
world,  from  all  that  might  distract  our  feelings  (the  Mo- 
hammedans have  the  right  idea  when  upon  entering  a 
mosque  or  commencing  to  pray  they  cover  their  eyes  and 
their  ears  with  their  fingers),  and  to  summon  the  Divine 
principle  within  ourselves.  But  the  best  is  to  do  as  Christ 
taught :  to  enter  your  closet  in  secret  and  to  shut  your  door, 
that  is  to  pray  in  solitude  whether  in  your  closet,  or  in  the 
woods,  or  in  the  field.  True  prayer  is  to  withdraw  from 
all  that  is  worldly,  from  all  that  is  external,  to  examine 
your  soul,  your  actions,  your  desires  not  in  the  light  of  the 
demands  of  outward  conditions,  but  of  that  divine  principle 
of  which  we  are  conscious  in  our  soul. 

Such  prayer  is  help,  strength,  elevation  of  spirit,  con- 
fession, examination  of  past  acts  and  direction  of  acts  to 
come. 

III. 

Outward  Worship 

1.  Between  a  Shaman  and  a  European  prelate,  or  tak- 
ing plain  people  for  example,  between  a  crude  sensual 
heathen  who  in  the  morning  places  upon  his  head  the  paw 
of  a  bearskin  and  says :  "Slay  me  not,"  and  a  cultured  Con- 
necticut Puritan,  there  may  be  a  difference  in  methods,  but 
there  is  no  difference  in  the  fundamentals  of  their  faiths, 
for  both  belong  to  that  class  of  people  whose  idea  of  serving 
God  is  not  in  becoming  better  men,  but  in  religion  or  in 
the  observing  of  certain  arbitrary  rules.  Only  those  who 
believe  that  serving  God  is  to  strive  towards  a  better  life 
are  different  from  these  others,  inasmuch  as  they  acknowl- 
edge a  different,  a  vastly  superior  basis  for  their  faith  that 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  271 

unites  all   right-minded  people  into  one  invisible  church, 
which  alone  can  be  the  universal  church.  Kant. 

2.  The  man  who  performs  acts  which  have  nothing 
ethical  in  themselves  in  order  to  incline  to  himself  the  good 
will  of  God,  and  thereby  to  attain  the  realization  of  his  de- 
sires, is  in  error,  because  he  means  to  attain  supernatural 
results  by  natural  means.     Such  attempts  are  called  witch- 
craft, but  since  witchcraft  is  usually  associated  with  the 
evil  spirit,  and  these  endeavors,  though  ignorant,  are  never- 
theless based  on  good  intentions,  let  us  rather  call  them 
fetishism.     Such  supernatural  activities  on  the  part  of  man 
towards  God  are  possible  only  in  imagination  and  are  irra- 
tional if   for  no  other  reason  than  because  it  cannot  be 
known  whether  they  are  pleasing  to  God.     And  if  a  man, 
in  addition  to  his  immediate  efforts  to  gain  the  goodwill  of 
God,  that  is  in  addition  to  good  conduct,  endeavors  to  ac- 
quire  further  merit  by  means   of  certain   formalties,   or 
supernatural  aids,  and  with  that  end  in  view  means  to  ren- 
der himself  more  receptive  to  a  moral  state  of  mind  and  to 
the  attainment  of  his  good  inclinations  by  external  observ- 
ances which  have  no  intrinsic  value,  then  he  relies  on  some 
supernatural  agency  for  the  correction  of  his  natural  weak- 
ness.   Such  a  man,  believing  that  acts  having  nothing  moral 
or  God-pleasing  in  themselves,  may  be  a  means  or  a  con- 
dition of  the  attainment  of  his  desires  direct  from  God,  is 
in  error,   because  he  imagines  that  he  can  without  any 
physical  or  moral  inclination,  make  use  of  supernatural 
means  having  nothing  in  common  with  good  morals,   in 
order  to  conjure  this  supernatural  divine  assistance  by  the 
observance  of  various  outward  practices.  Kant. 

3.  "And  when  thou  prayest,  thou  shalt  not  be  as  the 
hypocrites  are .  for  they  love  to  pray  standing  in  the  syna- 


272  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

gogue  and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets,  that  they  may  be 
seen  of  men.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  They  have  their  re- 
ward. 

"But  thou  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet, 
and  when  thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  the  Father 
which  is  in  secret ;  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  secret  shall 
reward  thee  openly."  Matthew  VI,  5-6. 

4.  "Beware  of  the  scribes,  which  desire  to  walk  in  long 
robes  and  love  greetings  in  the  markets,  and  the  highest 
seats  in  the  synagogues,  and  the  chief  rooms  at  feasts : 

"Which  devour  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  shew  make 
long  prayers  :  the  same  shall  receive  greater  damnation." 

Luke  XX,  46-47. 

Where  there  is  false  religion  there  will  also  always  be 
scribes  and  they  will  always  act  just  as  the  scribes  of  old 
against  whom  the  Scripture  warns  us. 

IV. 

Multiplicity  of  Religious  Teachings  and  the  One 

True  Religion 

1.  The  man  who  has  given  the  subject  of  religion  no 
thought  imagines  that  the  only  true  faith  is  the  one  in  which 
he  was  born.  But  just  ask  yourself  what  if  you  had  been 
born  in  some  other  faith?  You  a  Christian — if  you  had 
been  born  a  Mohammedan?  You  a  Buddhist,  if  you  had 
been  born  a  Christian?  You  a  Christian,  if  you  had  been 
born  a  Brahmin?  Can  it  be  that  we  alone  are  right  in  our 
faith,  and  all  the  others  believe  falsehood?  Your  faith 
will  not  become  truth  just  because  you  assert  to  yourself 
and  to  others  that  it  is  the  one  true  faith. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  273 

V. 

Some  Effects  of  Professing  False  Religions 

1.  In  1682  it  happened  in  England  that  Dr.  Leighton, 
a  venerable  man  who  had  written  a  book  against  the  Angli- 
can episcopate,  was  tried  in  court  and  sentenced  to  the 
following  punishment :  he  was  cruelly  lashed,  then  one  of 
his  ears  was  cut  off,  one  of  his  nostrils  slit  open,  and  the 
characters  S  S  were  branded  on  his  cheek.     Seven  days 
later  he  was  lashed  again,  although  the  scars  on  his  back 
had  not  yet  healed,  his  other  nostril  was  slit  open,  his  other 
ear  cut  off,  and  his  other  cheek  was  branded.    All  this  was 
done  in  the  name  of  Christianity.  Davidson. 

2.  In  1415,  Johannes  Huss  was  adjudged  a  heretic  for 
attacking  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  Pope ;  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  death  without  the  shedding  of  blood,  that  is  to  the 
stake. 

He  was  executed  outside  the  city  gates  between  some 
gardens.  When  he  was  brought  to  the  place  of  execution 
he  knelt  down  and  commenced  to  pray.  When  the  execu- 
tioner commanded  him  to  ascend  the  stake,  Huss  arose  and 
loudly  said: 

"Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  go  to  my  death  for  the  preaching 
of  thy  word,  I  shall  suffer  obediently/' 

The  executioners  divested  him  of  his  clothing  and 
bound  his  hands  behind  him  to  a  post.  The  feet  of  the 
martyr  rested  upon  a  bench.  Fagots  and  straw  were  piled 
about  him.  They  reached  up  to  his  chin.  Then  the  Em- 
peror's representative  approached  him  and  said  that  if  he 
recanted  all  that  he  had  taught,  he  would  be  pardoned. 

"No,"  replied  Huss,  "I  am  blameless." 

Then  the  executioners  set  fire  to  the  stake.     Huss 


274  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

chanted  the  prayer:  "O  Christ,  Son  of  the  living  God,  have 
mercy  upon  me." 

The  fire  blazed  upwards  and  soon  the  voice  of  Huss 
was  stilled. 

Thus  did  men  who  called  themselves  Christians  pro- 
claim their  faith. 

Is  it  not  clear  that  this  was  no  true  faith,  but  the 
crudest  of  superstitions? 

3.  Of  all  the  methods  of  propagating  false  religions 
the  most  brutal  is  the  inculcation  of  false  religions  in  the 
minds  of  the  children.    The  child  asks  his  elders,  men  who 
have  lived  before  him  and  had  the  opportunity  of  acquir- 
ing the  wisdom  of  those  who  had  gone  before,  to  tell  him 
about  the  world  and  its  life,  and  the  relation  between  him- 
self and  others,  and  he  is  told  not  what  his  elders  really 
think  and  believe,  but  what  people  thought  and  believed 
thousands  of  years  ago,  that  is  things  which  his  elders  do 
not  and  can  not  themselves  believe.    Instead  of  the  spiritual 
food  which  the  child  craves,  they  tender  him  poison  that 
ruins  his  spiritual  welfare,  poison  of  which  he  can  rid  him- 
self only  at  the  cost  of  much  effort  and  suffering. 

4.  Men  never  commit  evil  deeds  with  greater  confi- 
dence and  assurance  that  they  are  right  than  when  com- 
mitting these  deeds  in  the  name  of  false  religion. 

Pascal. 
VI. 

Wherein  Consists  the  True  Religion? 
1.    But  be  not  ye  called  Rabbi :  for  one  is  your  Mas- 
ter, even  Christ ;  and  all  ye  are  brethren. 

And  call  no  man  your  father  upon  the  earth :  for  one 
is  your  Father,  which  is  in  heaven. 

Neither  be  ye  called  masters :  for  one  is  your  Master, 
even  Christ.  Matthew  XXIII,  8-10. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  275 

/ 

Thus  taught  Christ.  And  he  taught  thus  because  he 
knew  that  just  as  there  were  teachers  in  his  day  who  taught 
a  false  doctrine  of  God  so  there  would  be  such  in  times  to 
come.  He  knew  it  and  taught  his  followers  not  to  obey 
men  who  call  themselves  teachers,  because  their  teachings 
obscure  the  clear  and  simple  doctrine  which  is  manifest  to 
all  men  and  is  implanted  in  the  heart  of  every  man. 

This  doctrine  is  to  love  God  as  the  highest  good  and 
truth,  and  to  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself  and  to  do  unto 
others  as  ye  would  that  others  do  unto  you. 

2.  Faith  is  not  in  knowing  what  has  been  and  what 
will  be,  nor  even  in  what  is  now,  but  only  in  knowing  what 
each  man  ought  to  do. 

3.  Therefore  if  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and 
there  rememberest  that  thy  brother  hath  ought  against  thee ; 

Leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy  way; 
first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  then  come  and  offer 
thy  gift.  Matthew  V,  23-24. 

Herein  is  true  faith,  but  not  in  the  rite,  nor  in  the 
sacrifice,  but  in  communion  with  people. 

4.  The  Christian  doctrine  is  so  simple  that  infants  un- 
derstand it  in  its  true  sense.    Only  those  fail  to  understand 
it  who  do  not  desire  to  lead  a  Christian  life. 

In  order  to  understand  true  Chrisitianity,  it  is  first  of 
all  needful  to  renounce  the  false. 

5.  True  worship  is  free  of  superstition;  when  super- 
stition enters  it,  worship  itself  is  destroyed.    Christ  showed 
us  wherein  is  true  worship.     He  taught  us  that  amidst  all 
the  activities  of  our  life  only  our  love  one  for  another  is 
the  light  and  the  blessing  of  man.    He  taught  that  we  can 
attain  happiness  only  then  when  we  serve  others  and  not 
our  own  self. 


276  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

6.  If  that  which  passes  for  the  law  of  God  does  not 
call  for  love,  it  is  human  fabrication  and  not  the  law  of 
God-  Scovoroda. 

7.  You  will  never  know  God  if  you  believe  all  that  is 
told  you  of  God. 

8.  You  cannot  know  God  from  what  is  told  you  about 
Him.    You  can  know  God  only  by  obeying  that  law  which 
is  known  to  every  human  heart. 

9.  The  substance  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  is  in  his 
manifestation  of  that  divine  perfection  towards  which  men 
must  strive  throughout  their  life.    But  people  who  do  not 
desire  to  follow  the  teaching  of  Christ,  sometimes  inten- 
tionally, sometimes  unwittingly,  understand  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  not  as  He  taught  it :  as  a  constant  striving  after  per- 
fection, but  as  though  He  had  demanded  divine  perfection 
of  men.    And  taking  this  corrupt  view  of  Christ's  doctrine, 
men  who  do  not  desire  to  follow  Him  have  two  ways  open 
to  them:  they  very  correctly  claim  that  perfection  is  unat- 
tainable, and  then  reject  the  entire  doctrine  as  an  imprac- 
tical dream  (this  is  done  by  worldly  people),  or  they  adopt 
another  method — the  most  popular  and  the  most  harmful, 
the  practice  of  the  majority  of  people  who  call  themselves 
Christians,  namely  admitting  that  perfection  is   unattain- 
able, they  correct,  that  is  they  corrupt  the  teaching,  and  in 
place  of  the  true  Christian  teaching  consisting  of  constant 
striving  towards  divine  perfection,  they  observe  certain  so- 
called  Christian  rules,  which  for  the  most  part  are  directly 
contrary  to  Christianity. 

10.  The  idea  of  gatherings  of  Christians  being  gather- 
ings of  the  elect,  of  superior  beings,  is  a  non-Christian,  a 
proud  and  an  erroneous  idea.     Who  is  better,  and  who  is 
worse?    Peter  was  better  until  the  cock  crew,    The  robber 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  277 

was  worse  until  he  reached  the  cross.  Do  we  not  know  in 
our  own  self  an  angel  and  a  devil  taking  part  in  our  life, 
there  being  no  creature  that  has  banished  the  angel  com- 
pletely from  his  heart,  nor  one  without  a  devil  leering  at 
times  from  behind  the  angel.  How  can  we,  contradictory 
beings  as  we  are,  compose  gatherings  of  elect  and  of  right- 
ecus? 

There  is  a  light  of  truth,  and  there  are  people  striving 
towards  it  from  all  sides,  from  as  many  sides  as  there  are 
radial  lines  in  a  circle,  that  is  in  an  infinite  variety  of  ways. 
Let  us  strive  with  all  our  might  towards  the  light  of  truth 
that  unites  us  all,  but  how  close  we  may  be  to  it,  how  far 
advanced  towards  a  union  with  it,  it  is  not  for  us  to  judge. 

VII. 

True  Religion  Unites  Men  More  and  More 

1.  The  corruption  of  Christianity  has  removed  us  from 
the  realization  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  but  the  truth  of 
Christianity  is  like  the  flame  of  a  camp  fire;  choked  for  a 
season  by  green   branches,    it   gradually   dries   the   damp 
twigs,  sets  them  on  fire  and  breaks  through  in  a  blaze  here 
and  there.     The  true  meaning  of  Christianity  is  already 
manifest  to  all  and  its  influence  is  stronger  than  the  decep- 
tions that  have  choked  it. 

2.  Listen   to  that   profound  dissatisfaction   with   the 
present  form  of  Christianity  which  has  seized  our  society 
and  is  expressed  in  murmurs  of  bitter  resentment  and  sor- 
row.   All  are  thirsting  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God.    And  it  is  drawing  nigh. 

A  purer  Christianity  slowly  but  surely  replaces  that 
which  has  been  passing  under  that  name.  Channing. 

3.  From  the  days  of  Moses  until  the  days  of  Jesus  a 


278  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

vast  mental  and  religious  development  took  place  among 
individual  people  and  nations.  From  the  days  of  Jesus  until 
our  times  this  progress  in  individuals  and  nations  has  been 
still  more  significant.  Old  delusions  have  been  cast  aside 
and  new  truths  have  penetrated  into  the  consciousness  of 
mankind.  One  man  cannot  be  as  great  as  humanity.  If  a 
man  be  so  far  ahead  of  his  fellows  that  they  do  not  under- 
stand him,  a  time  comes  when  they  catch  up  with  him,  then 
overtake  him  and  so  far  outdistance  him  as  to  become  in- 
comprehensible to  those  who  remained  where  the  great  man 
had  stood.  Every  religious  genius  sheds  a  brighter  light 
upon  religious  truths  and  helps  to  bring  men  into  a  closer 
union.  Parker. 

4.  Just  as  each  man  individually,  so  all  humanity  in 
the  aggregate  must  change,  pass  from  lower  stages  to  higher 
development,  without  stopping  its  growth,  the  limit  of  which 
is  in  God.  Each  state  of  man  is  the  result  of  his  preceding 
state.  Growth  is  attained  without  interruption  and  imper- 
ceptibly, like  the  development  of  an  embryo,  so  that  noth- 
ing breaks  the  chain  of  the  consecutive  stages  of  this  unin- 
terrupted growth.  But  if  man  and  the  entire  human  race 
are  destined  to  be  transformed,  this  change  must  be  effected 
both  in  the  case  of  the  individual  and  of  the  entire  human 
race  in  labor  and  sufferings. 

Before  attaining  grandeur,  before  passing  into  light, 
we  must  move  in  darkness,  must  suffer  persecutions,  must 
yield  up  our  body  to  save  our  soul ;  we  must  die,  in  order 
to  be  born  into  a  new  life,  more  vigorous  and  more  per- 
fect. And  after  eighteen  centuries,  having  completed  one 
of  the  cycles  of  its  development,  mankind  is  again  striving 
to  transform  itself.  Old  systems,  old  social  orders,  all  that 
made  up  the  world  of  olden  days  is  being  destroyed,  and 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  279 

the  nations  are  living  mid  wreck  and  ruin  in  terror  and 
suffering.  Therefore  we  must  not  lose  courage  in  view  of 
these  ruins,  and  of  these  scenes  of  death,  either  occurring  or 
about  to  occur.  On  the  contrary,  we  must  take  courage. 
The  union  of  people  is  not  afar  off.  Lamenais. 


FALSE   SCIENCE 


FALSE  SCIENCE 

The  superstition  of  science  consists  in  the  belief  that 
the  only  true  knowledge  needed  in  the  lives  of  all  men  is  to 
be  found  exclusively  in  that  body  of  information  gathered 
haphazard  out  0f  the  infinite  domain  of  the  knowable  which 
has  come  under  the  observation  of  a  certain  clique  of  men 
in  a  given  period — a  clique  of  men  who  have  set  themselves 
free  from  the  obligation  to  labor,  whereas  labor  is  needful 
to  life,  and  who  therefore  lead  an  immoral  and  an  irra- 
tional life. 

I. 

Wherein  is  the  Superstition  of  Science? 

1.  When  men  accept  as  indubitable  truths  that  which  is 
offered  to  them  as  such  by  others,  without  stopping  to  ex- 
amine it  by  the  exercise  of  their  reason,  they  fall  into  super- 
stition.   Such  is  our  modern  superstition  of  science,  namely 
recognition  as  indubitable  truths  of  what  is  passed  as  truth 
by  professors,  academicians   and  men  calling  themselves 
scientists  in  general. 

2.  Just  as  there  is  a  false  teaching  of  religion,  even  so 
there  is  a  false  teaching  of  science.    The  false  doctrine  of 
science  is  recognizing  as  the  exclusively  true  science  every- 
thing stated  to  be  such  by  people  who  in  a  given  period 
usurp  the  right  of  determining  what  is  true  science. 

And  since  not  that  is  reputed  as  science  which  is  need- 
ful to  all  men — but  that  which  has  been  determined  by  men 
who  have  in  a  given  period  usurped  the  right  of  determin- 
ing what  is  science,  such  science  J.s  bound  to  be  false.  Even 
so  it  has  happened  in  our  world. 

3.  Science  occupies  in  this  modern  age  literally  the 


284  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

same  place  which  centuries  ago  was  held  by  sacrificial 
priesthood. 

The  same  recognized  sacrificial  priests — our  profes- 
sors, the  same  castes  of  sacrificial  priesthood  in  our  science, 
academies,  universities,  congresses. 

The  same  confidence  and  absence  of  criticism  on  the 
part  of  the  faithful,  the  same  discords  among  the  faithful — 
yet  failing  to  perturb  them.  The  same  unintelligible  words, 
the  same  self-reliant  pride  instead  of  thinking: 

"What  is  the  use  of  arguing  with  him,  he  denies  reve- 
lation!" "What  is  the  use  of  arguing  with  him,  he  denies 
science !" 

4.  The  Egyptian  did  not  look  upon  that  which  his 
priests  presented  to  him  under  the  guise  of  truth  as  mere 
belief  (as  we  do  now),  but  considered  it  the  revelation  of 
the  highest  knowledge  attainable  to  man,  in  other  words, 
as  "science" :  even  so  the  unsophisticated  men  of  to-day 
who  have  no  knowledge  of  science  accept  as  undubitable 
truths  all  that  is  offered  them  by  the  modern  priests  of  sci- 
ence— they  believe  it  all. 

5.  Nothing  is  more  subversive  of  true  knowledge  than 
the  use  of  obscure  ideas  and  phrases.     Yet  this  is  just  the 
practice  of  the  alleged  scientists  who  make  up  obscure,  ficti- 
tious invented  words  to  bolster  up  obscure  ideas. 

6.  False  religion  and  false  science  always  express  their 
dogmas  in  high-sounding  terms  which  appear  mysterious 
and  significant  to  the  uninitiated.    The  discussions  of  scien- 
tists are  frequently  as  unintelligible  to  themselves  as  they 
are  to  others,  even  as  the  discussions  of  professional  teach- 
ers of  religion.     A  pedantic  scientist  uses  foreign  words 
and  made-up  terms  and  transforms  the  simplest  things  into 
something  which  is  hard  to  understand  just  as  prayers  in  a 
foreign  language  are  unintelligible  to  illiterate  parishioners. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  285 

Mysteriousness  is  not  a  proof  of  wisdom.  The  more  truly 
wise  a  man  is,  the  simpler  the  langauge  in  which  he  ex- 
presses his  thoughts. 

II. 

Science  Serves  as  an  Excuse  of  the  Present 
Social  Order 

1.  It  would  seem  that  in  order  to  prove  the  importance 
of  cultivating  that  which  is  known  as  science  we  should  have 
to  demonstrate  that  this  cultivation  is  useful.    But  men  of 
science  generally  say  that  since  they  occupy  themselves  with 
certain  tasks,  these  occupations  are  bound  to  prove  useful. 

2.  The  legitimate  purpose  of  science  is  the  recognition 
of  truths  serving  to  benefit  mankind.     The  spurious  pur- 
pose is  to  justify  deceptions  which  introduce  evil  into  the 
life  of  man.     Such  are  the  sciences  of  law  and  political 
economy,  and  most  particularly  philosophy  and  theology. 

3.  There  is  as  much  fraud  in  science  as  in  religion, 
and  it  springs  from  the  same  beginning,  namely  the  desire 
to  justify  one's  own  weakness,  and  therefore  scientific  fraud 
is  as  harmful  as  religious  fraud.     People  err  and  lead,  an 
evil  life.     The  proper  thing  would  be  for  men  to  realize 
that  their  life  is  evil,  to  try  and  change  their  mode  of  life 
and  to  live  better.    But  here  come  all  sorts  of  sciences :  the 
science  of  the  state,  of  finances,  theology,  criminology,  sci- 
ence of  police  administration,  political  economy  and  history, 
and  that  most  modern   of  all   sciences — sociology — show- 
ing the  laws  by  which  men  live  and  ought  to  live,  and  they 
prove  that  the  evil  life  of  men  is  not  due  to  their  own  self, 
but  to  laws,  and  that  it  is  not  the  duty  of  men  to  cease  from 
evil  and  to  change  their  life  from  an  evil  one  to  a  good  one, 
but  to  keep  on  living  as  they  have  been,  in  evil  and  weak- 
ness, but  to  ascribe  these  evils  not  to  their  own  self,  but  to 


286  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

the  laws  as  discovered  and  formulated  by  the  scientists. 
This  fraud  is  so  unreasonable,  so  contrary  to  conscience 
that  people  would  have  never  adopted  it  but  for  the  reason 
that  it  encourages  them  in  their  evil  life. 

4.  We  have  ordered  our  life  contrary  to  the  moral 
and  physical  nature  of  man,  and  are  fully  convinced — just 
because  everybody  thinks  so — that  it  is  the  one  true  mode 
of  life.    We  dimly  feel  that  what  we  call  our  social  order, 
our  religion,  our  culture,  our  sciences  and  arts,  somehow 
fails  to  deliver  us  from  our  wretchedness,  and  even  in- 
creases it.     But  we  cannot  resolve  to  submit  it  all  to  an 
examination  by  our  reason,  because  we  think  that  mankind 
having  always  believed  in  the  necessity  of  compulsory  so- 
cial order,  religion  and  science,  cannot  exist  without  them. 

If  the  chick  within  the  egg  were  gifted  with  human 
reason  and  were  as  little  capable  of  using  it  as  the  people 
of  the  present  age,  he  would  never  break  through  the  shell 
of  his  egg  and  he  would  never  know  life. 

5.  Science  has  become  a  distributor  of  licenses  to  live 
on  the  labors  of  others. 

6.  The  methodical  gabble  of  our  higher  institutions  of 
learning  is  merely  a  conspiracy  to  avoid  the  solution  of 
difficult  problems  by  giving  a  dubious  meaning  to  words, 
because  the  convenient  and  frequently  rational  phrase  "I 
don't  know"  is  unwelcome  in  our  academies. 

Kant. 

7.  No  two  things  are  more  divergent  than  science  and 
profit,  knowledge  and  money.    If  money  is  needed  in  order 
to  become  more  learned,  if  learning  is  bought  and  sold  for 
money,  both  the  buyer  and  the  seller  deceive  themselves. 
Christ  drove  the  traders  out  of  the  temple.    So  should  the 
traders  be  driven  out  of  the  temple  of  science. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  287 

8.  Do  not  look  upon  science  as  a  crown  to  be  admired, 
nor  as  a  cow  to  be  milked. 

9.  One  of  the  most  convincing  proofs  of  the  use  of 
the  word  "science"  to  describe  the  most  trifling  and  repulsive 
ideas  is  the  existence  of  a  science  of  punishment,  which  is 
the  most  ignorant  of  human  activities,  proper  only  to  the 
lowest  phase  of  human  development — infancy  or  savagery. 

III. 

Harmful  Effects  of  the  Superstition  of  Science 

1.  No  clique  of  men  has  more  confused  ideas  of  reli- 
gion, morals  and  life  than  the  men  of  science:  and  even 
more  striking  is  the  fact  that  although  science  has  achieved 
really  considerable  success  in  the  domain  of  the  material 
world,  it  has  proved  either  useless  or  directly  harmful  in  the 
lives  of  men. 

2.  Harmful  is  the  spread  of  the  belief  among  men  that 
our  life  is  the  product  of  material  forces  and  depends  upon 
these  forces.    But  when  this  belief  assumes  the  name  of  sci- 
ence and  passes  for  the  sacred  wisdom  of  mankind,  the  harm 
caused  by  such  a  belief  is  terrible. 

3.  The  development  of  science  does  not  go  hand  in 
hand  with  an  improvement  in  morals.    In  all  nations  whose 
history  we  know  the  development  of  science  led  directly  to 
a  corruption  of  morals.    Our  belief  to  the  contrary  is  due 
to  our  confusing  our  banal  and  illusive  science  with  the  true 
supreme  knowledge.     Science  in  the  abstract,   science  as 
such,  demands  respect,  but  modern  science,  that  is  what 
madmen  call  science,  is  worthy  only  of  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt. Rousseau. 

4.  The  true  explanation  of  the  insane  life  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  present  age — so  contrary  to  the  thought  of  the 


288  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

best  men  of  all  times — is  in  the  fact  that  our  youth  is  taught 
a  multitude  of  the  most  abstruse  things:  such  as  the  state 
of  celestial  bodies,  the  condition  of  the  globe  for  millions 
of  years,  the  origin  of  the  organism,  but  they  are  not  taught 
the  one  thing  needful  to  all  and  at  all  times :  what  is  the 
meaning  of  human  life,  how  to  live,  what  the  wisest  men  of 
all  ages  thought  about  it  and  how  they  solved  the  problem 
of  life.  The  young  generation  is  not  taught  all  this,  but  is 
taught  instead,  under  the  name  of  science,  the  most  arrant 
nonsense  which  even  the  teachers  do  not  believe  themselves. 
Instead  of  solid  rock,  the  structure  of  our  life  rests  on  air- 
filled  bubbles.  How  shall  this  structure  escape  a  fall  ? 

5.  All  that  we  call  science  is  merely  an  invention  of 
rich  men  to  occupy  their  idle  time. 

6.  We  live  in  an  age  of  philosophy,  science  and  reason. 
It  seems  as  though  all  sciences  had  combined  to  illumine 
our  path  in  the  maze  of  human  life.    Immense  libraries  are 
open  to  all :  colleges,  schools,  universities  give  us  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  use  of  the  wisdom  of  men  accumulated  in 
the  course  of  thousands  of  years.    It  seems  as  though  every- 
thing   worked    together    to    develop    our    mind    and    to 
strengthen  our  reason.     Have  we  become  better  or  wiser 
from  it  all  ?    Do  we  know  better  what  our  duties  are,  and 
what  is  most  important,  wherein  lies  the  blessedness  of  life? 
What  have  we  acquired  from  all  this  futile  knowledge,  be- 
sides enmity,  hatred,  uncertainty  and  doubts?     Every  reli- 
gious teaching  and  sect  proves  that  it  alone  has  found  the 
truth.     Every  writer  demonstrates   that   he  alone   knows 
wherein  consists  our  happiness.     One  proves  to  us   that 
there  is  no  body.     Another  that  there  is  no  soul.    A  third 
one  that  there  is  no  connection  between  body  and  soul. 
Again  another  that  man  is  an  animal.     And  still  another 
that  God  is  merely  a  mirror.  Rousseau. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  289 

7.  The  principal  evil  of  modern  science  is  in  the  fact 
that  unable  as  it  is  to  study  everything,  not  knowing — with- 
out the  aid  of  faith — what  it  ought  to  study,  it  delves  only 
into  things  that  please  the  men  of  science  who  lead  a  life  of 
error. 

The  most  pleasant  thing  for  men  of  science  is  the  ex- 
isting social  order,  which  is  profitable  to  them,  and  the  satis- 
faction of  an  idle  curiosity  which  does  not  call  for  much 
mental  effort. 

IV. 

There  is  no  Limit  to  the  Number  of  Studies,  But  Man's 
Capacity  of  Comprehension  is  Limited 

1.  A  Persian  philosopher  said:    "When  I  was  young, 
I  said  to  myself  I  will  fathom  all  science.    And  I  acquired 
almost  all  the  knowledge  given  to  man.    But  when  I  became 
old  and  I  reviewed  all  I  had  learned,  I  discovered  that  my 
life  was  over,  but  that  I  knew  nothing." 

2.  The  observations  and  calculations  of  astronomers 
have  taught  us  much  that  is  marvelous.    But  the  most  im- 
portant result  of  these  researches  is  that  they  have  revealed 
to  us  the  abyss  of  our  ignorance.     Without  these  studies 
man  could  never  grasp  the  immensity  of  this  abyss.    Medita- 
tion on  this  subject  should  work  a  great  transformation  in 
the  determining  of  the  ultimate  aims  of  the  activity  of  our 
reason.  Kant. 

3.  "There  are  plants  on  earth :  we  see  them,  but  they 
are  invisible  from  the  moon.     In  these  plants  there  are 
fibres,  in  these  fibres  there  are  tiny  living  organisms,  but 
beyond  that  there  is  nothing  more."    What  cocksureness ! 

"Complex  bodies  are  composed  of  elements,  and  ele- 
ments are  indissoluble."  What  cocksureness! 

Pascal 


290  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

4.  We  lack  knowledge  even  to  understand  the  life  of 
the  human  body.     Consider  what  we  require  to  know  for 
it:  the  body  requires  space,  time,  motion,  heat,  light,  food, 
water,  air  and  many  other  things.    In  nature  all  these  things 
are  so  closely  associated  that  we  cannot  apprehend  one  of 
them  without  studying  the  others.    We  cannot  know  a  part 
without  knowing  the  whole.    We  shall  know  the  life  of  our 
body  only  when  we  have  learned  all  that  it  needs,  and  for 
this  we  must  study  the  entire  universe.     But  the  universe 
is  infinite,  and  its  knowledge  is  unattainable  to  man.    There- 
fore we  cannot  even  fully  fathom  even  the  life  of  our  body. 

Pascal. 

5.  Experimental  sciences,  if  pursued  for  their  own 
sake  without  a  guiding  philosophical  thought,  are  like  a 
countenance  without  the  eyes.    They  offer  a  form  of  occu- 
pation for  men  of  average  ability,  but  not  gifted  with  su- 
preme genius  which  would  only  be  in  the  way  in  petty  in- 
vestigations.   Men  of  such  limited  abilities  concentrate  all 
their  powers  and  their  knowledge  upon  a  single  well-defined 
scientific  field  where  they  can  attain  a  fairly  perfect  knowl- 
edge while  remaining  entirely  ignorant  in  every  other  direc- 
tion.   They  may  be  compared  with  workmen  in  clock  fac- 
tories where  some  make  only  wheels,  while  others  make 
springs  and  still  others  chains.  Schopenhaiter. 

6.  Not  the  mass,  but  the  quality  of  knowledge  is  of 
importance.     It  is  possible  to  know  many  things,  without 
knowing  the  essential  things. 

7.  The    study    of    natural    history    in    Germany    has 
reached  the  phase  of  madness.    Although  to  God  man  and 
insect  may  be  of  equal  value,  it  is  different  as  far  as  our 
reason  is  concerned.    How  many  things  are  there  which  man 
must  first  put  in  order  before  he  can  take  up  birds  and 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  291 

moths.  Study  your  soul,  train  your  mind  to  be  cautious  in 
judgment,  instil  mercy  in  your  soul.  Learn  to  know  man 
and  arm  yourself  with  courage  to  speak  the  truth  for  the 
good  of  your  fellow  man.  Sharpen  your  mind  with  mathe- 
matics if  you  can  find  no  other  means  to  attain  the  same 
end.  But  beware  of  classifying  gnats,  the  superficial  knowl- 
edge of  which  is  utterly  useless,  and  an  exact  knowledge  of 
which  would  take  you  into  infinity. 

"But  God  is  as  infinite  in  insects  as  he  is  in  the  sun," 
you  might  say.  I  willingly  admit  this.  He  is  immeasurable 
also  in  the  sands  of  the  sea,  the  varieties  of  which  you  have 
never  undertaken  to  systematize.  If  you  feel  no  particular 
calling  to  seek  pearls  in  the  lands  where  this  sand  is  to  be 
found,  stay  at  home  and  cultivate  your  field :  it  will  need 
all  your  industry ;  and  do  not  forget  that  the  capacity  of 
your  brain  is  finite.  There  where  you  preserve  the  history 
of  some  butterfly,  space  might  be  found  for  thoughts  of 
wise  men  that  may  be  an  inspiration  to  you. 

Lichtenberg. 

8.  Socrates  lacked  that  common  weakness  of  discuss- 
ing in  his  arguments  all  sorts  of  existing  things,  speculating 
on  the  origin  of  what  the  sophists  call  nature,  and  progress- 
ing to  the  basic  principles  of  the  origin  of  celestial  bodies. 
"Do  men  really  imagine,"  he  said,  "that  they  have  attained 
the  knowledge  of  all  things  that  are  essential  to  them  that 
they  engage  in  speculating  on  things  that  so  little  concern 
them?" 

He  marveled  especially  at  the  blindness  of  those  alleged 
scientists  who  failed  to  realize  that  the  human  mind  is  in- 
capable of  fathoming  these  mysteries.  "This  is  why,"  he 
said,  "all  these  men  daring  to  discuss  these  mysteries  fail 
to  agree  on  basic  principles,  and  as  you  listen  to  them  when 
they  meet  together  you  seem  to  be  near  a  gathering  of  mad- 


292  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

men.  And  what  indeed  are  the  distinguishing  characteris- 
tics of  the  unfortunates  possessed  by  lunacy?  They  fear 
the  things  wherein  there  is  nothing  terrifying,  and  boldly 
face  those  that  are  dangerous  indeed."  Xenophon. 

9.  Wisdom  is  a  great  and  extensive  subject.     It  de- 
mands all  the  leisure  that  may  be  dedicated  to  it.     No  mat- 
ter how  many  problems  you  succeed  in  solving,  there  will 
be  many  more  requiring  investigation  and  solution  over 
which  you  will  have  to  toil.     These  problems  are  so  vast, 
so  numerous  that  they  require  the  elimination  from  your 
consciousness  of  all  extraneous  matters  so  as  to  leave  full 
scope  for  the  labor  of  your  mind.    Should  I  waste  my  life 
on  mere  words?     Yet  it  frequently  happens  that  learned 
men  think  more  of  discussions  than  they  do  of  life.     Ob- 
serve how  great  an  evil  is  caused  by  excessive  hairsplitting 
and  how  harmful  it  may  be  to  truth.  Seneca. 

10.  Science  is  food  for  the  mind.    And  this  food  may 
be  as  harmful  to  the  mind  as  physical  food  to  the  body,  if  it 
be  impure  or  over-sweetened  or  absorbed  in  excessive  quan- 
tities.    It  is  possible  to  over-eat  mentally  and  to  be  made 
sick  thereby. 

In  order  to  avoid  this  it  is  necessary  to  take  mental 
food  just  as  physical  food,  only  when  hungry,  when  feeling 
a  desire  for  knowledge,  and  only  then  when  knowledge  is 
requisite  for  the  soul. 

V. 

Of  Varieties  of  Knowledge  there  is  no  End.    The  Busi- 
ness of  True  Science  is  to  Select  the  Most  Important 

and  Necessary  Among  Them 

1.  Not  to  know  is  neither  shameful  nor  injurious — 
one  cannot  know  everything,  but  it  is  both  shameful  and 
injurious  to  pretend  to  know  that  which  one  does  not  know. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  293 

2.  The  capacity  of  the  mind  to  absorb  knowledge  has 
its  limits.    Therefore  you  must  not  think  that  the  more  you 
know  the  better  it  is  for  you.     The  knowledge  of  a  great 
mass  of  trifles  is  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  knowledge 
of  that  which  is  truly  needful. 

3.  The  mind   is  strengthened  by   the   study  of  that 
which  is  needful  and  important  to  man  and  is  weakened 
by  the  study  of  that  which  is  useless  and  trifling  just  as 
surely  as  the  body  is  strengthened  by  fresh  air  and  food,  and 
weakened  by  foul  air  and  food.  Ruskin. 

4.  In  modern  times  a  vast  body  of  knowledge  worthy 
of  study  has  been  accumulated.    Soon  our  faculties  will  be 
too  weak  and  our  life  too  brief  to  assimilate  even  the  most 
useful  portion  of  this  knowledge.     A  vast  abundance  of 
treasure  is  at  our  service,  but  having  absorbed  it  we  must 
reject  much  as  needless  rubbish.     It  is  better  then  not  to 
burden  oneself  with  it.  Kant. 

5.  There  is  no  end  to  knowledge.    Therefore  it  cannot 
be  said  of  him  who  knows  much  that  he  knows  more  than 
he  who  knows  very  little. 

6.  One  of  the  commonest  phenomena  of  our  times  is 
to  see  men  who  consider  themselves  learned,  educated  and 
enlightened,  knowing  a  vast  mass  of  useless  things,  yet  re- 
maining steeped  in  crassest  ignorance,  not  alone  failing  to 
perceive  the  true  meaning  of  life,  but  even  glorying  in  their 
ignorance.     And  on  the  contrary  it  is  just  as  common  to 
find  among  uneducated  and  illiterate  men,  who  know  noth- 
ing of  chemical  agents,  parallax  or  properties  of  radium, 
truly  enlightened  persons  knowing  the  meaning  of  life  and 
yet  without  any  pride  whatsover. 

7.  People  cannot  know  or  understand  everything  that 
is  going  on  in  the  world,  wherefore  their  judgment  on  many 


294  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

things  is  incorrect.  There  are  two  kinds  of  lack  of  knowl- 
edge :  one  is  the  true,  natural  lack  of  knowledge,  the  state 
in  which  man  is  born.  The  other  may  be  termed  the 
nescience  of  the  truly  wise.  When  a  man  exhausts  all  the 
sciences  and  learns  all  that  men  know  or  have  ever  known, 
he  must  see  that  all  this  knowledge  massed  together  is  so 
trifling  that  it  cannot  enable  him  to  comprehend  the 
world  of  God,  and  he  will  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
learned  people  basically  know  as  little  as  the  ordinary  un- 
lettered people.  But  there  are  superficial  men  who  have 
learned  a  little  here  and  a  little  there,  who  have  familiarized 
themselves  with  surface  knowledge  of  various  sciences  and 
have  become  'conceited.  They  departed  from  the  natural 
ignorance,  but  have  not  yet  attained  the  true  wisdom  of 
those  learned  men  who  have  grasped  the  imperfection  and 
the  futility  of  all  human  knowledge.  These  are  the  people, 
wise  in  their  own  estimation,  who  bring  confusion  into  the 
world.  They  judge  all  things  confidently  and  rashly,  and 
naturally  enough  they  err  constantly.  They  know  how  to 
throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  are  frequently 
honored,  but  the  common  people  despise  them,  being  aware 
of  their  worthlessness.  And  they  in  turn  despise  the  com- 
mon people,  considering  them  ignorant.  Pascal. 

8.  People  frequently  think  that  the  more  one  knows 
the  better  it  is.     This  is  not  so.    The  main  thing  is  not  to 
know  much,  but  to  know  the  most  needful  out  of  the  mass 
of  knowable. 

9.  Do  not  fear  lack  of  knowledge,  but  fear  excess  of 
knowledge,  particularly  if  this  excessive  knowledge  be  for 
profit  or  praise.     It  is  better  to  know  less  than  one  might 
than  more  than  one  ought.     Excessive  knowledge  makes 
men  self-satisfied  and  self-assured,  and  therefore  more  fool- 
ish than  they  would  be  if  they  knew  nothing. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  295 

10.  Wise  men  are  not  as  a  rule  learned,  learned  men 
are  not  as  a  rule  wise.  Lao-Tse. 

11.  Owls  see  in  the  dark,  but  sunlight  blinds  them. 
Even  so  it  is  with  learned  people.    They  know  much  super- 
fluous scientific  clap-trap,  but  neither  know  nor  can  know 
the  most  needful  thing  in  life :  how  a  man  ought  to  live  in 
the  world. 

12.  Socrates  the  philosopher  said  that  stupidity  is  not 
to  know  little,  but  failing  to  know  oneself  and  thinking  that 
you  know  what  you  do  not  know.    This  he  called  stupidity 
plus  ignorance. 

13.  If  a  man  knew  all  sciences  and  spake  all  languages 
but  did  not  know  what  he  is  and  what  he  ought  to  do,  he 
would  be  less  enlightened  than  the  old  woman  who  believes 
in  a  Saviour,  that  is  in  a  God  whose  will  she  recognizes  in 
her  life  and  who  knows  that  God  demands  righteousness  of 
her.    She  is  more  enlightened  than  the  scientist  because  she 
has  found  an  answer  to  the  most  important  question :  what 
is  her  life  and  how  she  must  live.    Yet  the  scientist  having 
the  cleverest  answers  for  the  most  complex,  but  essentially 
trifling  questions,  has  no  answer  to  the  most  important  ques- 
tion of  each  rational  being:  why  do  I  live,  and  what  ought 
I  to  do  ? 

14.  People  who  think  that  the  most  important  thing  in 
life  is  knowledge  are  like  moths  that  fly  against  the  candle: 
they  perish  themselves  and  obscure  the  light. 

VI. 

Wherein  is  the  Substance  and  the  Aim  of  True  Science? 

1.     People  either  term  that  as  science  which  is  the  most 

important  science  in  the  world,  according  to  which  man 

may  learn  how  he  ought  to  live  in  the  world,  or  all  that 


296  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

which  it  flatters  a  man  to  know  and  which  may  or  may  not 
do  him  any  good.  The  first  kind  of  knowledge  is  truly  a 
great  thing,  but  the  second  is  for  the  most  part  a  futile  pur- 
suit. 

2.  There  are  two  unmistakable  marks  of  true  science : 
first  an  inner  mark,  in  that  the  servant  of  science  fulfills  his 
calling  not  for  gain,  but  in  self-denial,  and  the  second  an 
outward  mark  in  that  his  work  is  intelligible  to  all  men. 

3.  The  life  of  the  people  in  our  present  day  is  so  or- 
ganized that  nine  hundred  ninety-nine  thousandths  of  the 
people  are  constantly  occupied  with  physical  toil  and  have 
neither  time  nor  possibility  to  take  up  science  or  art.    But 
one  thousandth  of  the  people,  having  exempted  itself  of 
physical  toil,  has  composed  science  and  arts  to  suit  itself. 
The  question  is  what  sort  of  science  and  arts  can  there  be 
under  such  conditions  ? 

4.  The  life  task  of  each  man  is  to  become  increasingly 
better.    Therefore  only  those  sciences  are  good  which  help 
him  in  this  task. 

5.  A  learned  man  is  a  man  who  knows  very  many 
things  out  of  all  sorts  of  books.    An  educated  man  is  he 
who  knows  what  is  now  currently  accepted  among  people. 
An  enlightened  man  is  he  who  knows  why  he  lives  and  what 
he  ought  to  do.    Do  not  try  to  be  either  learned  or  educated, 
but  strive  to  become  enlightened. 

6.  If  in  real  life  illusion  mars  reality  but  for  a  mo- 
ment— in  the  domain  of  the  abstract  illusion  can  rule  for 
thousands  of  years  and  impose  its  iron  yoke  upon  entire 
nations,  choking  the  noblest -impulses  of  mankind,  and  with 
the  help  of  the  slaves  deceived  by  it,  shackle  those  whom  it 
cannot  deceive.     It  is  the  enemy  with  whom  the  wisest 
minds  of  all  ages  engaged  in  unequal  combat,  and  what  they 
won  from  it  in  conquest  is  the  noblest  heritage  of  mankind. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  297 

If  it  is  said  that  we  must  seek  truth  even  where  no  profit 
can  be  foreseen  from  it,  because  gain  may  be  found  where 
it  is  least  expected,  we  may  also  add  that  we  must  as  zeal- 
ously seek  out  and  eradicate  every  delusion  where  no  harm 
from  it  can  be  foreseen,  for  harm  may  appear  and  be  mani- 
fested where  least  expected,  as  every  delusion  contains  a 
poison.  There  are  no  harmless  delusions,  and  certainly  no 
venerable  or  sacred  delusions.  It  may  be  boldly  stated,  in 
consolation  of  those  who  devote  their  lives  to  the  noble  and 
arduous  war  against  delusions  of  any  kind,  that  error  may 
do  its  work  at  night  like  owls  and  bats  until  the  light  of 
truth  appears,  but  there  is  more  likelihood  of  the  owls  and 
bats  frightening  the  sun  and  driving  it  back  whence  it  came 
than  of  old  delusions  forcing  out  a  realized  truth,  fully  and 
clearly  expressed — and  of  taking  unhindered  the  place  va- 
cated by  it.  Such  is  the  power  of  truth:  it  gains  victory 
with  difficulty  and  with  trouble,  but  once  the  victory  is 
gained  it  cannot  be  turned  back.  Schopenhauer. 

7.  Since  men  have  lived  in  the  world  there  have  been 
wise  men  among  all  nations  who  taught  them  that  which  is 
most  needful  for  man  to  know :  that  wherein  is  the  calling 
and  therefore  the  true  blessedness  of  every  man  and  of  all 
people.    Only  he  who  knows  this  can  judge  of  the  impor- 
tance of  all  other  kinds  of  knowledge. 

There  is  no  end  to  scientific  subjects,  and  without 
knowledge  of  what  constitutes  the  calling  and  the  blessed- 
ness of  all  people,  there  is  no  possibility  of  choice  in  this 
infinite  range  of  subjects,  and  for  that  reason  without  such 
knowledge  all  other  kinds  of  knowledge  become  an  idle  and 
harmful  amusement — even  as  they  have  become  among  us. 

8.  If  men  turn  to  modern  science  not  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  idle  curiosity,  nor  in  order  to  play  a  role  in  the  world 
of  science,  to  write,  to  argue,  to  teach ;  nor  yet  in  order  to 


298  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

make  a  living  by  science,  but  turn  to  it  with  direct  and  sim- 
ple questions  of  life,  they  find  that  science  will  answer  thou- 
sands of  involved  and  intricate  questions,  but  never  the  one 
question  to  which  every  rational  being  seeks  an  answer ;  the 
question — what  am  I,  and  how  ought  I  to  live  ? 

9.  To  study  all  sciences  that  are  unnecessary  to  spir- 
itual life,  such  as  astronomy,  mathematics,  physics,  etc., 
even  as  to  indulge  in  all  kinds  of  amusements,  games,  car- 
riage riding,  promenading  is  permissible  when  any  of  these 
occupations  do  not  keep  you  from  doing  that  which  you 
ought  to  do,  but  it  is  wrong  to  engage   in   superfluous 
sciences,  or  indulge  in  empty  amusements,  when  they  hinder 
the  true  tasks  of  life. 

10.  Socrates  pointed  out  to  his  disciples  that  in  ration- 
ally arranged  education  each  science  has  certain  bounds 
which  should  be  reached,  but  which  should  not  be  over- 
stepped.   Of  geometry,  he  said,  know  enough  to  be  able  to 
measure  correctly  a  plot  of  land  which  you  buy  or  sell,  or 
to  divide  an  inheritance,  or  to  divide  a  task  among  laborers. 
"This  is  so  easy,"  he  said,  "that  with  a  little  effort  no  meas- 
urements would  give  you  any  trouble,  though  you  had  to 
measure  the  entire  earth."    But  he  did  not  approve  of  being 
enticed  by  difficult  problems  in  this  science,  and  although 
he  personally  knew  them  all,  he  said  that  they  could  fill  the 
life  of  man  and  distract  him  from  other  useful  sciences, 
without  being  of  any  use  themselves.     Of  astronomy  he 
found  desirable  to  know  enough  to  tell  from  simple  indica- 
tions the  hour  of  the  night,  the  day  of  the  month,  the  season 
of  the  year,  to  find  one's  direction,  to  steer  by  at  sea  and  to 
relieve  watchmen.     "This  science  is  so  easy,"  he  added, 
"that  it  is  accessible  to  any  hunter  or  mariner  or  to  anyone 
who  cares  to  give  it  a  little  study."    But  to  proceed  so  far 
with  it  as  to  study  the  course  of  the  various  celestial  bodies, 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  299 

to  calculate  the  size  of  the  planets  and  stars,  their  distance 
from  the  earth,  their  movements  and  changes,  this  he  se- 
verely criticized,  because  he  saw  no  advantage  in  such  oc- 
cupation. He  had  so  low  an  opinion  of  these  things  not 
because  of  ignorance,  for  he  had  studied  all  these  sciences, 
but  because  he  did  not  desire  men  to  waste  their  time  and 
powers  upon  superfluous  occupations  instead  of  expending 
them  upon  that  which  men  need  most  of  all :  the  perfecting 
of  their  morals.  Xenophon. 

VII. 

On  Reading  Books 

1.  See  that  the  reading  of  many  authors  and  all  sorts 
of  books  do  not  produce  confusion  and  uncertainty  in  your 
mind.    It  is  meet  to  nourish  your  mind  only  on  writers  of 
undoubted  merit.    Excessive  reading  distracts  the  mind  and 
weans  it  from  independent  work.    Therefore  read  only  old 
and  thoroughly  good  books.    If  you  conceive  at  any  time  a 
desire  to  turn  to  works  of  a  different  character  never  forget 
to  return  to  the  former.  Seneca, 

2.  Read  first  of  all  the  best  books,  otherwise  you  may 
never  find  time  to  read  them  at  all.  Thoreau. 

3.  It  is  better  never  to  read  a  book  than  to  read  many 
books  and  to  believe  all  that  is  contained  in  them.     One 
may  be  wise  without  reading  a  single  book;  but  believe  all 
that  is  written  in  books  and  you  are  bound  to  be  a  fool. 

4.  In  authorship  the  same  thing  is  repeated  as  in  real 
life.    The  majority  of  people  are  foolish  and  deluded.    For 
this  reason  there  are  so  many  evil  books,  there  is  so  much 
literary  rubbish  among  the  good  grain.     Such  books  only 
purloin  people's  time,  money  and  attention. 

Bad  books  are  not  only  useless,  but  harmful.     Nine- 


300  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

tenths  of  all  books  are  printed  to  coax  people's  money  out 
of  their  pockets. 

It  is  therefore  better  not  even  to  read  the  books  of 
which  much  is  said  or  written.  People  ought  first  of  all  to 
become  acquainted  with  and  read  the  best  authors  of  all 
ages  and  nations.  These  books  must  be  read  first  of  all. 
Otherwise  you  will  hardly  have  a  chance  to  read  them  all. 
Only  such  authors  can  instruct  and  educate  us. 

We  can  never  read  too  few  bad  books  nor  too  many 
good  books.  Bad  books  are  a  moral  poison  stupefying  the 
people.  Schopenhauer. 

5.  Superstitions    and   delusions    trouble   the    people. 
There  is  but  one  deliverance  from  them:  the  truth.     We 
know  the  truth  both  in  ourselves  and  through  the  wise  and 
holy  men  who  lived  before  us.    Therefore  in  order  to  live 
well  and  righteously  we  must  seek  the  truth  ourselves  and 
make  use  of  the  directions  which  have  reached  us  from  the 
wise  and  holy  men  of  old. 

6.  One  of  the  most  powerful  means  of  learning  the 
truth  that  delivers  from  superstition  is  in  studying  all  that 
mankind  has  done  in  the  past  towards  the  recognition  of 
the  eternal  truth,  common  to  all  mankind,  and  towards 
expressing  it. 

VIII. 

Of  Independent  Thinking 

1.  Every  man  may  and  should  make  use  of  everything 
that  the  aggregate  reason  of  mankind  has  evolved,  but  at 
the  same  time  he  must  let  his  reason  examine  the  data 
worked  out  by  all  mankind. 

2.  Knowledge  is  only  then  knowledge  when  it  has 
been  acquired  by  an  effort  of  a  man's  own  thinking  rather 
than  by  memory  alone. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  301 

Only  when  we  have  forgotten  everything  that  has  been 
taught  us  do  we  begin  to  know  truly.  I  shall  not  come  a 
hair's  breadth  closer  to  the  knowledge  of  things  as  long  as 
I  look  upon  them  as  I  have  been  taught  to  do.  In  order  to 
know  an  object  I  must  approach  it  as  something  entirely 
unknown  to  me.  Thoreau. 

3.  We  expect  from  a  teacher  that  he  first  make  his 
pupil  a  reasoning  person,  then  a  rational  one  and  finally  a 
learned  one. 

This  method  has  the  advantage  that  though  the  pupil 
may  never  attain  the  final  stage,  which  is  usually  the  case, 
he  still  may  profit  from  instruction  and  will  become  more 
experienced  and  wiser — if  not  for  the  purposes  of  the  school, 
then  at  least  for  those  of  life. 

But  if  this  method  is  inverted,  then  the  pupils  are  apt 
to  catch  something  of  cleverness  before  their  reasoning 
faculties  have  been  developed  and  to  take  away  from  school 
a  borrowed  knowledge,  like  something  that  is  glued  to  them 
but  has  not  been  assimilated  by  them,  and  their  spiritual 
faculties  remain  sterile  as  before,  but  at  the  same  time 
much  vitiated  by  a  spurious  learnedness.  Therein  is  the 
cause  why  we  frequently  meet  men  of  learning  (or  rather 
of  instruction)  who  show  so  little  reason,  and  why  so 
many  more  blockheads  come  into  the  world  out  of  colleges 
than  from  any  other  social  class.  Kant. 

4.  Science  is  not  in  schools.    In  schools  we  find  the 
finical  ignorance  of  dunces.    Science  is  in  books  and  in  the 
individual  and  independent  labor  of  acquiring  knowledge 
from  books,  but  it  is  by  no  means  in  the  schools,  where  since 
the  days  of  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing  nothing  has 
ever  remained  of  science  but  a  musty  trace. 

The  character  of  school  instruction  is  dry,  mind-killing 


302  THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE 

pedantry.  This  is  inevitable.  Who  will  not  tire  of  saying 
the  same  thing  over  and  over  again  for  ten  or  twenty  years  ? 
The  instructor  nearly  always  engages  in  his  profession  with 
loathing,  and  to  relieve  his  tedium  exchanges  science  for 
mere  formalism.  And  in  addition  the  stupid  monotony  of 
his  trade  makes  of  him  a  plain  fool. 

N.  G.  Tchernyshevsky. 

5.  In  all  classes  we  meet  people  of  mental  superiority 
though  frequently  not  possessed  of  any  learning.  The  nat- 
ural mind  may  replace  almost  any  degree  of  learning,  but 
no  amount  of  learning  may  replace  the  natural  mind,  and 
though  the  latter  as  compared  with  the  former  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  wealth  of  knowledge  of  cases  and  facts  (his- 
torical information)  and  definition  of  causality  (natural 
sciences) — in  methodical  and  easily  surveyed  arrangement, 
this  does  not  yet  give  a  more  accurate  or  a  deeper  view  of 
the  real  substance  of  all  these  facts,  cases  and  causalities. 
The  man  without  learning,  by  sagacity  and  quick  judgment 
of  all  things,  can  easily  do  without  these  riches.  One  in- 
stance out  of  his  own  experience  can  teach  him  more  than 
a  thousand  instances,  which  another  may  know  without 
having  fully  grasped  their  significance,  will  teach  a  man  of 
learning,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  untutored  man  is  a 
living  knowledge. 

But  on  the  contrary  much  that  an  ordinary  man  of 
learning  knows  is  dead  knowledge,  which  if  it  does  not 
entirely  consist  of  empty  words,  frequently  consists  of  ab- 
stract ideas  attaining  significance  only  to  the  extent  that  the 
possessor  thereof  exhibits  judgment  and  a  lofty  under- 
standing of  the  questions  under  discussion.  But  if  this  un- 
derstanding be  scant,  such  discussion  is  bound  to  lead  to 
bankruptcy,  just  as  a  bank  that  issues  obligations  exceeding 
tenfold  its  cash  assets.  Schopenhauer. 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  LIFE  303 

6.  How  much  superfluous  reading  could  we  but  avoid 
if  we  thought  independently. 

Is  reading  and  learning  one  and  the  same  ?  Some  one 
asserted,  not  without  reason,  that  although  the  art  of  print- 
ing helped  the  spread  of  learning,  it  did  so  at  the  cost  of  its 
quality  and  character.  Too  much  reading  is  harmful  to 
thinking.  The  greatest  thinkers  whom  I  have  met  among 
people  of  learning  have  always  read  the  least. 

If  people  were  only  taught  how  to  think,  and  not  merely 
that  they  should  think,  this  misunderstanding  would  be 
removed.  Lichtenberg, 


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